Lay on the table vs Postpone indefinitely

[Guest Prem]

Hello, I am not sure what the difference is between motioning to lay something on the table vs motioning to postpone it indefinitely. Can someone explain it to me?

[Guest Prem]

Does postponing indefinitely just mean killing the motion without a vote?

[Richard Brown]

To lay something on the table is to set it aside temporarily during a meeting in order to take up something more pressing. The motion to postpone indefinitely or actually kills a motion without taking a direct up or down vote on original motion itself.

[Atul Kapur]

Postpone Indefinitely "kills" a motion by not allowing it to be brought back before the meeting during the same session. It is debatable and requires a majority vote.

Laying a Motion on the Table is meant, as @Richard Brown says, is meant to temporarily set the pending main motion aside in order to deal with an urgent matter. The motion laid on the table does not, however, automatically come back under active consideration. It is not debatable but also simply requires a majority vote.
Because of this combination of characteristics, the motion is sometimes misused to "kill" the motion without debate and with only a majority vote. The presiding officer should be alert to the potential of such misuse and rule it not in order if this is attempted.

On 3/4/2023 at 4:23 PM, Guest Prem said:

Does postponing indefinitely just mean killing the motion without a vote?

Absolutely not. There is a vote, on the subsidiary motion to Postpone Indefinitely. If that vote is adopted, then there is no direct vote on the main motion itself. This motion allows the assembly to "kill" the motion without taking a direct vote on it, which is sometimes desirable if it would be embarrassing to adopt or defeat the main motion itself. 

[Gary Novosielski]

On 3/4/2023 at 4:02 PM, Guest Prem said:

Hello, I am not sure what the difference is between motioning to lay something on the table vs motioning to postpone it indefinitely. Can someone explain it to me?

In RONR the difference is clear, as my colleagues have explained. It is fair to say that in ordinary societies the motion to Lay on the Table is better avoided completely.  There are very few situations where it is needed, and it is more commonly misused than properly used. See FAQs 12 and 13 at the web site.

The confusion arises because under the rules of the US Congress, particularly the House of Representatives, a motion to Lay on the Table does dispose of a question permanently, i.e., "kills" the question.  While RONR is similar in many ways to House rules, the two are not identical, and this motion is arguably one of the sharpest contrasts between the two.