From The Washington Post's [‘We’ve been very weak’: House Democrats decry their oversight of Trump, push Pelosi on impeachment](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/weve-been-very-weak-house-democrats-decry-their-oversight-of-trump-push-pelosi-on-impeachment/2019/09/22/94fb9510-dd51-11e9-8fd3-d943b4ed57e0_story.html):

> 
> Several Democrats on the panel privately pressed House Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) to hold Lewandowski in contempt on the spot, an idea Pelosi later endorsed — spurring their sense of urgency. But Nad­ler’s staff, which wanted to keep the focus on Trump, said the logistics of doing so immediately were too complicated, if not impossible — a decision that left many on the panel feeling angry and frustrated.
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> “To clear up a technical point: **House rules do not permit us to hold anyone in contempt on the spot**,” wrote one Judiciary staffer in an email to placate panel members earlier in the week. “Which is not to say we do not understand the strong impulse to punch this guy in the mouth.”
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> The Washington Post obtained a copy of the email.
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Wikipedia's article [United States House of Representatives](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_of_Representatives) does not contain the word "contempt" and to my knowledge House rules and procedures are known to be complex and non-obvious, apparently even to some House members. So I'd like to ask:

**Question:** What are the US House of representatives rules on holding a non-cooperating witness in contempt of congress?

Are there clear procedures, rules or at least precedents for holding a witness in contempt of congress if they refuse to answer questions for reasons that the House does not recognize as justified? I think in this specific case it happens to be a letter from the White House citing "executive privilege" but my question is not intended to address that reason specifically.

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**update:** a mention of "inherent contempt" of congress by US representative Mike Quigley on TV <https://youtu.be/2jM5g5WE-O4?t=222>