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Congressional Committees
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Congressional Committees work to ease the work load of Congress.
- imagine if Congress had to review all 5,584 bills - it would take forever
Congressional Committees decide which bills have a chance of becoming laws
- subcommittees report on bills
- Committees vote on whether a bill should be passed on to the larger chamber
CONGRESSIONAL
COMMITTEES
Members of congress seek
From "How a Bill Really Becomes a Law"
Committee Membership
Basic types of
As we learned last class...
committee assignments
committees
based on...
- Membership of a Committee is divided between the two parties based on the proportion of the parties in the chamber
- Ex. If Republicans control 60% of the House, they get 60% of the seats on Committees
"There was a time when it didn’t take so many conversations to advance a proposal through Congress. If you could sell your idea to the top leadership and a key committee chairman or two, their clout would carry a bill well down the road to passage. Nowadays, though, more people on Capitol Hill have legislative power, including subcommittee chairmen, party leaders, leadership-appointed task forces, and individual Members, especially those who are skilled at attracting media attention."
- Standing committee
- Subcommittees
- Select committee
- Joint committee
- Conference committee
- Their own interest or expertise
- The power and influence the position brings
- Reelection incentives
- Assignments are based upon seniority
STANDING COMMITTEES
CONFERENCE
COMMITTEES
JOINT COMMITTEES
Subcommittees
SELECT COMMITTEES
are permanent and
oversee specific issues
handle specialized aspects of legislation and policy out of a standing committee
are composed of members of the House and Senate.
coordinate work of both houses
do not deal will bills directly
are special committees that are formed to deal with a particular issue or policy
iron out differences between similar bills passed in the House and Senate
Prestigious committees
Committee Chairperson
in the House and Senate
- Most powerful person
- selected by the party in control
- Key Decisions: when to meet, what bills to consider, who can testify
House
Senate
- Appropriation
- Budget
- Commerce
- Rules
- Ways and Means
- Appropriations
- Armed Services
- Commerce
- Finance
- Foreign Relations
Adapted from hyerin yoon
Investigative Committees
- Congressional committees
conduct investigations.
- Examine issues that
don't stand clearly with
standing committee
jurisdictions.
- Assign special committees
to conduct studies.
- May be permanent or
temporary
- They give information to
Congress about special
cases or wrongdoings.
- Example: Watergate scandal
(1972)