Official 118th Congress Pin By Vjmlhds - Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
Issue #227 Government January 19, 2023
After the contentious week at the beginning of the 118th Congress on January 3, 2023, when it took 15 tries before Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) was finally elected Speaker of the House, attention has now turned to the committee assignments.
So far in this new Congress (2023-2025), assignments to committees and committee chairs have been equally contentious and controversial.
As of this date, Kevin McCarthy has assigned the Committee Chairs and assignments for the most infuential committees to white supremacists, election deniers, conspiracy theorists, and other of the most extreme members of the House, even if it means ignoring appointment by seniority.
Most of the work in drafting bills is done by committees and subcommittees. Then, the chairperson of the respective committee decides whether to bring the draft bill to the entire House for a vote…or not.
When the United States Constitution went into effect in 1789, there was just one temporary committee intended to discuss legislation on behalf of the “Committee of the Whole” which included all House Members.
Throughout the 19th century, as the size of the federal government grew, the committee system was expanded. Many select committees were expected to be temporary just to consider a particular issue, and then they were disbanded.
In 1885, Woodrow Wilson, who was a professor of political science at Bryn Mawr Women’s College at the time, stated that “Congress in session is Congress on public exhibition, whilst Congress in its committee rooms is Congress at work.”
Finally, in 1946 and 1970, the House committee system was streamlined and restructured while also increasing the number of subcommittees and professional staff.
A House congressional committee is a legislative sub-organization that handles a specific duty (rather than the general duties of Congress). Committee membership enables members to develop specialized knowledge of the matters under their jurisdiction.
The committees monitor ongoing governmental operations, identify issues suitable for legislative review, gather and evaluate information, and recommend courses of action to the full House.
Currently, there are approximately 200 committees and subcommittees total for the House of Representatives and the Senate.
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Committee chairs are selected by whichever party is in the majority, and the minority party decides on ranking members to lead them. The committees and party conferences may have rules determining term limits for leadership and membership. Most standing committees are selected by the respective party steering committees and ratified by the party conferences.
The Ethics, House Administration, Rules, and all select committees are chosen by the party leaders (currently Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-CA, in the majority and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-NY, in the minority). Most committees are additionally subdivided into subcommittees, each with its own leadership selected according to the full committee's rules.
Being assigned to specific committees and being appointed a chair of a committee are the most important appointments for members of Congress.
That is why there is so much drama as this process is completed.
There are three types of House Committees:
Standing Committees are permanent committees whose jurisdiction is identified in the House Rules.
Select committees are created by a resolution to conduct investigations or consider measures, usually on a specific topic, and are not renewed on a permanent basis with the notable exception of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. The official title of the Jan 6th Committee was the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the United States Capitol.
Joint committees, such as the Joint Committee on Taxation, have both House and Senate members and typically conduct studies rather than consider measures.
Other facts about House Committees:
Subcommittees are formed by most committees 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.
Committee of the Whole is only used by the House of Representatives, not by the Senate.
Committee Chairs Traditionally, committee chairs are selected by seniority. The longest-serving Members of each committee from the majority and minority parties become the chair and ranking member, respectively, of the committee.
Committee Size The size of each committee is determined at the beginning of each Congress by House leaders who set the number of committees and subcommittees, their size, and the ratio of majority to minority members on each panel.
Committee Assignments Members are typically limited to service on two committees and four subcommittees, with exceptions for particular committees. The steering committee for each party makes assignments which in turn must be voted on by the Democratic Caucus or Republican Conference.
What are your thoughts about the current House of Representatives for the 118th Congress?
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