Committees
 What are committees?
 Groups of Congress people assigned to
groups of specific areas of expertise
Purpose of Committees
 Purpose
of Committees
 Allows work to be divided among smaller group
of people
 Hundreds of bills are introduced each year so
this creates a system of selection
○ Committees listen to supporters and opponents
○ Work out compromises that give a bill the best chance
at becoming law
 Hold public hearings and investigations and help
the public learn about key problems and issues
 Committees
 At least 2 committee assignments
per Congress member
 Meet with witnesses and experts to
gain information
 Leaders of Committee are in
majority party
○ (That is another reason it is so
important to be in the majority
party!)
Types of committees
 Standing Committees
 Select Committees
 Joint Committees
 Conference Committees
Committees
 Standing
committees
 Created very early in the new gov’t
to oversee bills that deal with
particular issues
 These committees are permanent
and continue from Congress to
Congress
 These committees also have
subcommittee
Standing Committees: House
Agriculture
Appropriations
 Armed Services
 Banking and Financial
Services
 Budget
 Commerce
 Education and the
Workforce
 Government Reform
 House Administration


International Relations
Judiciary
 Resources
 Rules
 Science
 Small Business
 Standards of Official
Conduct
 Transportation and
Infrastructure
 Veterans’ Affairs
 Ways and Means


Standing Committees: Senate
Agriculture, Nutrition,
and Forestry
 Appropriations
 Armed Services
 Banking, Housing,
and Urban Affairs
 Budget
 Commerce, Science,
and Transportation
 Energy and Natural
Resources
 Environment and
Public Works
 Finance

Foreign Relations
Governmental Affairs
Indian Affairs
Judiciary
Health, Education,
Labor, and Pensions
 Rules and
Administration
 Small Business
 Veterans’ Affairs

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


Committees
 Joint
Committees:
 Made up of members from each
chamber
 Exist in a few policy areas- economy
and taxation
○ Eg.: Joint Economic Committee
Committees
No bill can be sent from Congress to the
President until both houses have
passed it in identical form.
 Conference
 Temporary committee, formed when
Senate and House pass different
versions of a bill
 Members of each chamber must
compromise on differences and present a
single bill
Committees
 Select:
 Created to study a specific issue
and report findings to their chamber
 Usually only created for one term of
Congress
 Created in both houses of Congress
 ex: Senate Select Committee that
investigated the Watergate Scandal
Committee
 Rules
Committee
 One of the oldest and most powerful
committees
 Serves as the traffic officer in the House
 Helps direct the flow of major legislation
 After bill is approved in committee is goes
to the rules committee to be processed into
the House schedule
Membership in Committees
Congress members may only serve on a limited
number of standing committees and
subcommittees.
 Political parties assign members to the standing
committees. The majority party in Congress will be
the majority in committees as well.
 Committee Chairpersons of standing committees
are some of the most powerful people in
Congress.
 Chairpersons decide when hearings will be held
and who will testify for or against a bill.
