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    Committee Types and Roles: Valerie Heitshusen

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    Christine Aev Olasa
    There are three main types of congressional committees: standing committees, which have permanent jurisdiction over legislative and oversight areas; select or special committees, which are temporary panels established to investigate specific issues; and joint committees, which are made up of both House and Senate members to conduct studies. Most standing committees form subcommittees to handle tasks within their jurisdiction, like considering bills and conducting oversight. Subcommittees vary in their autonomy across committees but can play an important role in moving legislation through Congress.

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    Committee Types and Roles: Valerie Heitshusen

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    Christine Aev Olasa
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    There are three main types of congressional committees: standing committees, which have permanent jurisdiction over legislative and oversight areas; select or special committees, which are temporary panels established to investigate specific issues; and joint committees, which are made up of both House and Senate members to conduct studies. Most standing committees form subcommittees to handle tasks within their jurisdiction, like considering bills and conducting oversight. Subcommittees vary in their autonomy across committees but can play an important role in moving legislation through Congress.

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    There are three main types of congressional committees: standing committees, which have permanent jurisdiction over legislative and oversight areas; select or special committees, which are temporary panels established to investigate specific issues; and joint committees, which are made up of both House and Senate members to conduct studies. Most standing committees form subcommittees to handle tasks within their jurisdiction, like considering bills and conducting oversight. Subcommittees vary in their autonomy across committees but can play an important role in moving legislation through Congress.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    Download as pdf or txt
    62 views4 pages

    Committee Types and Roles: Valerie Heitshusen

    Uploaded by

    Christine Aev Olasa
    There are three main types of congressional committees: standing committees, which have permanent jurisdiction over legislative and oversight areas; select or special committees, which are temporary panels established to investigate specific issues; and joint committees, which are made up of both House and Senate members to conduct studies. Most standing committees form subcommittees to handle tasks within their jurisdiction, like considering bills and conducting oversight. Subcommittees vary in their autonomy across committees but can play an important role in moving legislation through Congress.

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    Committee Types and Roles

    Valerie Heitshusen
    Specialist on Congress and the Legislative Process

    May 2, 2017

    Congressional Research Service


    7-5700
    www.crs.gov
    98-241
    Committee Types and Roles

    Structure of the Committee System


    Congress divides its legislative, oversight, and internal administrative tasks among more than 200
    committees and subcommittees. Within assigned areas, these functional subunits gather
    information; compare and evaluate legislative alternatives; identify policy problems and propose
    solutions; select, determine, and report measures for full chamber consideration; monitor
    executive branch performance (oversight); and investigate allegations of wrongdoing.
    The 1946 Legislative Reorganization Act (60 Stat. 812) sets the framework for the modern
    committee system. The act organized the Senate and House committees along roughly parallel
    lines, but divergences have emerged over time. Within the guidelines of chamber rules, each
    committee adopts its own rules addressing organizational, structural, and procedural issues. As a
    consequence, there is considerable variation among panels and across chambers.
    In the 115th Congress (2017-2018), there are 20 standing committees in the House, with 97
    subcommittees1 and one select committee.2 The Senate has 16 standing committees, with 68
    subcommittees3 as well as four select or special committees. There are also four joint committees.

    Types of Committees
    There are three main types of committees: standing, select or special, and joint. (Party
    committees, task forces, and congressional Member organizations—informal groups—are not
    addressed here.)
    Standing committees are permanent panels identified as such in chamber rules (House Rule X,
    Senate Rule XXV). Because they have legislative jurisdiction, standing committees consider bills
    and issues and recommend measures for consideration by their respective chambers. They also
    have oversight responsibility to monitor agencies, programs, and activities within their
    jurisdictions and, in some cases, in areas that cut across committee jurisdictions.
    Most standing committees recommend funding levels—authorizations—for government
    operations and for new and existing programs. A few have other functions. For example, the
    Appropriations Committees recommend legislation to provide budget authority for federal
    agencies and programs. The Budget Committees establish aggregate levels for total spending and
    revenue, via the annual budget resolution, that serve as guidelines for the work of the authorizing
    and appropriating panels.
    Select or special committees are generally established by a separate resolution of the chamber,
    sometimes to conduct investigations and studies and, on other occasions, also to consider
    measures. Often, select committees examine emerging issues that do not fit clearly within
    existing standing committee jurisdictions or cut across jurisdictional boundaries. A select
    committee may be permanent or temporary. Select committees may have certain restrictions on
    member tenure or may include certain specified representatives (e.g., party leaders or certain

    1
    The number of total subcommittees is current as of April 25, 2017, and based on lists found at http://clerk.house.gov/
    committee_info/scsoal.pdf.
    2
    The House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence operates, in many ways, like a permanent standing
    committee; it has four subcommittees in the 115th Congress.
    3
    The number of total subcommittees is current as of April 25, 2017, and based on lists found at http://www.senate.gov/
    committees/membership.htm.

    Congressional Research Service 1


    Committee Types and Roles

    standing committee chairs) as ex officio members. Instead of the term select, the Senate
    sometimes uses special committee (e.g., the Special Committee on Aging).
    Joint committees are made up of Members of both the House and Senate. Today’s permanent joint
    committees conduct studies or perform housekeeping tasks rather than consider measures.4 For
    instance, the Joint Committee on Printing oversees the functions of the Government Printing
    Office and general printing procedures of the federal government. The chairmanship of joint
    committees usually alternates between the House and Senate. A conference committee is a
    temporary joint committee formed to resolve differences between competing House and Senate
    versions of a measure. Conference committees draft compromises between the positions of the
    two chambers, which are then submitted to the full House and Senate for approval.

    Subcommittees
    Most committees form subcommittees to share specific tasks within the jurisdiction of the full
    committee. Subcommittees are responsible to, and work within the guidelines established by,
    their parent committees. In particular, standing committees usually create subcommittees with
    legislative jurisdiction to consider and report bills. They may assign their subcommittees such
    specific tasks as the initial consideration of measures and oversight of laws and programs in the
    subcommittees’ areas.
    Subcommittees may play an important role in the legislative process. Because few chamber and
    party rules apply to subcommittees, the number, prerogatives, and autonomy of subcommittees
    vary among committees. Senate rules do not directly limit the number of subcommittees each
    committee may create. House rules impose a maximum of five subcommittees for most
    committees (Rule X, clause 5(d)), but a sixth oversight subcommittee is permitted; several
    committees, such as the Appropriations Committee, have been allowed—via House rules or a
    separate order in the opening-day rules resolution—a larger number of subcommittees.5
    Some committees create independent subcommittees with sizeable staff and budgets; routinely
    refer measures to subcommittees for initial consideration; and allow subcommittees to take the
    lead in framing issues, drafting measures and reports, and holding hearings and markups. On
    other committees, most work is undertaken by the full committee. Some full committees repeat
    all actions taken by their subcommittees, while others review only major subcommittee work or
    even forward subcommittee-reported measures to the floor with little change.

    4
    Unlike the permanent existing joint committees, a joint committee established for a portion for the 112th Congress (the
    Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction) was empowered to consider legislative proposals.
    5
    See House Rule X, clause 5(d)(2), 115th Congress, for higher allowances for subcommittees at the House committees
    on Appropriations (13), Armed Services (7), Foreign Affairs (7), Oversight and Government Reform (7), and
    Transportation and Infrastructure (6). For the 115th Congress, also see Section 3(p) (“Separate Orders”) of H.Res. 5,
    115th Congress, allowing the Agriculture Committee six subcommittees in the 115th Congress. For provisions in other
    recent congresses, see Section 3 (j) (“Separate Orders”) of H.Res. 5 (114th Congress), and Section 3 (f) (“Separate
    Orders”) of H.Res. 5 (113th Congress).

    Congressional Research Service 2


    Committee Types and Roles

    Author Contact Information

    Valerie Heitshusen
    Specialist on Congress and the Legislative Process
    vheitshusen@crs.loc.gov, 7-8635

    Acknowledgments
    This report was originally written by Thomas P. Carr, formerly an analyst in American National
    Government at CRS. The listed author has updated this report and is available to respond to inquiries on the
    subject.

    Congressional Research Service 3

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