Congressional Committees

Purpose Allows members to split up their work among smaller groups Select the few bills (out of many) that are to receive further consideration **Most bills never get beyond this Hold public hearings and investigations

Kinds of Committees Standing Committees Select Committees Joint Committees Conference Committees

Standing Committees Permanent groups to oversee bills that deal with certain kinds of issues Agriculture, Armed Services, Budget, Appropriations, Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittees: specialize in a subcategory of its standing committee’s responsibility Ex. Ways and Means Committee Health Human Services Social Security

Appropriations Committee Approval of government spending Both Houses have 13 subcommittees to deal with spending Both can review the budget of the same agencies Every year each has a budget hearing where they must request $$ needed for operations

Select Committees Temporary committees that study one specific issue and report their findings back to the Senate or House Matters of great public concern Overlooked problems Problems of Interest Groups

Joint Committees Made up of members from both the House and the Senate Can be temporary or permanent Examples: Joint Economic Committee Atomic Energy Defense Taxation Deficit Spending

Conference Committees Temporary committee set up when the House and Senate have passed different versions of the same bill Resolve the differences between the 2 bills by bargaining over each section of the bill Final compromised bill is called a conference report Goes to floor of House and Senate for acceptance

Choosing Committee Members Political parties assign members to the standing committees Chairpersons of standing committees: Most powerful members of Congress Make key decisions Seniority system: gives the member of the majority party with the longest uninterrupted service on a particular committee the leadership of that committee