The Rules Committee sets the Convention Rules prior to the Convention in Cleveland.
The question is, does the body of delegates IN the convention get to approve the Rules and/or rules changes?
I am also hearing show on news reports that the candidates with the most delegates will be allowed to set their people on the Rules Committee and therefore the Rules changes should be set for the upcoming Convention, which are agreeable to TRUMP and Cruz.
Can’t bank that, but that is the word I heard.
We can google the Republican National Convention Rules 2016.
Supposedly they have a delegate graphic up that explains how a Contested (OPEN) Convention would work, in the event that happens.
Actually, each state gets two delegates on each of the committees. How the delegates are selected for the committees varies from state to state. In some states, the candidates winning the most delegates get to select them; in others, they are elected at the state conventions. For example, in Louisiana, none of the Trump delegates were placed on any of the convention committees - 5 were Cruz delegates and 1 was uncommitted. That was because the Cruz campaign knew that the committee spots were allocated by the state convention, and he had his people organized to win election to those spots. So unless Trump gets some people who know what they are doing, he can get outmaneuvered on the committees and it would all be completely within the rules.
The question is, does the body of delegates IN the convention get to approve the Rules and/or rules changes?
The delegates at the convention have to approve the rules. But if the chairman of the convention (Paul Ryan this time) wishes, he can have it approved on a voice vote, meaning no matter who yells the loudest, he can decide that the "ayes" have it.