Early Saturday morning, the House passed H.R. 1, an historic $100 billion spending cut and the first “continuing resolution” in history to be debated under an open process where lawmakers from both parties could offer and debate amendments. Both the spending cut and the process used to pass it are key parts of the Pledge to America – and instrumental to the Republican efforts to reform Congress and create a better environment for job growth. Here’s what lawmakers and pundits are saying:

• “Looks Like a Real Legislature”: “Now we have got a process. It looks like a legislature. And it is messy and it’s kind of ugly. But I think Boehner has actually done a great thing. ... all power to him, because it is a real legislature now.” (David Brooks, Shields and Brooks on Boehner’s ‘New World Order,’ Wisconsin Protests, PBS Newshour, 2/18/11)

• “Democracy”: “In sharp contrast to his recent predecessors, Speaker John Boehner is sticking to his vow to make the chamber more open and accountable. ... ‘Chaos,’ ‘a headache,’ ‘turmoil,’ ‘craziness,’ ‘confused,’ ‘wild,’ ‘uncontrolled’ are just a few of the words the Washington press corps has used to describe the ensuing late-night debates. There’s a far better word for what happened: democracy.” (Congress Finally Earns Its Pay, Wall Street Journal, 2/18/11)

• “Epic Spending Fight”: “The new speaker turned loose his legion of tea-party freshmen for an epic spending fight and gave Republicans free rein to go after all aspects of government operations.” (The education of John Boehner, Politico, 2/19/11)

• “Open Process Gets Results”: “The continuing resolution that passed the House just before dawn on Saturday was the final product of more than 60 hours worth of freewheeling, at times chaotic, debate on the House floor. ... The additional measures reduce spending by an additional $620 million...” (Open Process Gets Results, National Review, 2/20/11)

• “Refreshing”: “Rep. Howard Berman (D-Calif.), who is serving his 15th term, praised the open process. ‘There’s a refreshing aspect to it,’ Berman told The Hill.” (Dems like openness in GOP House, The Hill, 2/17/11)

• “Encouraging”: “Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), a confidant of Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), said the amendment process is ‘encouraging.’ ‘It’s rather retro. We haven’t operated this way in probably a decade. But it’s rather encouraging,’ he said on MSNBC.” (Dems like openness in GOP House, The Hill, 2/17/11)

• “A Very Big Change”: “Even some veteran Democrats praised what was the most open and sprawling floor fight the House had seen in years. ‘After as little openness as we’ve had, it’s a very big change. It’s refreshing, and I think it’s a good thing,’ said Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.), the dean of the House and a member of Congress since 1955.” (The education of John Boehner, Politico, 2/19/11)

• “Reflects What Americans Expect”: “Speaker Boehner’s approach, though, reflects what Americans expect of Congress by giving rank-and-file lawmakers greater input into drafting legislation.” (Open House policy, The Daily News, 2/22/11)

• “Free-Flowing Debate”: “For Speaker John A. Boehner, the budget-cutting frenzy taking place on the House floor merges two of his animating political passions — the need to shrink federal spending and the willingness to risk a free-flowing debate.” (Boehner in His Element as Spending Cuts Elicit Free-Flowing House Debate, New York Times, 2/16/11)

• “Unmatched”: “[T]he House can only control what the House can control. And in less than a week it has shown a level of fiscal seriousness and fidelity to limited government that is unmatched in our time.” ($61.5 billion Sign of Seriousness, Commentary, 2/21/11)

• “Delivering On a Promise”: “As much as anything, the wide-open consideration of this spending bill reflected the institutional values of Boehner, who is delivering on a promise to restructure the House to favor spending cuts, empower the rank and file rather than party leaders to drive policy, and give the public clearer insight into the priorities of their elected officials.” (The education of John Boehner, Politico, 2/19/11)