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1. Congressional
Committees

2. Purpose of Committees
• To divide work of Congress into smaller
specialized groups
• To select bills that will be allowed to
move forward
• To hold public hearings and
investigations

3. Committee Hearings

4. General Truths About
All Committees
• Party in power selects chairperson
• Membership in each committee is divided
in proportion to percentage of control in
House/Senate
• All committees have
subcommittees

5. • Members of Congress fight for certain
chairperson positions.
• Chairpersons often have great power.
• Certain committees are more prestigious.
• Each member of Congress can only serve
on a limited number of committees.
General Truths About
All Committees

6. Unwritten Rule:
Seniority
System
General Truths About
All Committees

7. Kinds of Committees
• Standing Committees
• Subcommittees
• Select Committees
• Joint Committees
• Conference Committees

8. Standing Committees
• They are permanent committees.
• They represent major areas of
government.

9. Subcommittees
• Work with a smaller part of the larger
committee’s responsibilities.
• These subcommittees are usually
permanent but change occasionally.

10. Subcommittee Example
Ways and Means Committee
• Health
• Human Resources
• Oversight
• Select Revenue Measures
• Social Security
• Trade

11. Select Committees
• Usually created to study one specific issue
• Usually deal with some large issue of
great concern
• Usually temporary
• Purpose: Investigate
and report findings to
House or Senate

12. Joint Committees
• Have members from both House and Senate
• Serve as study groups
• Report findings to House and Senate
• Limited authority since representing both
House and Senate

13. Conference Committees
• Members from both House and Senate
• Temporary – for one bill only
• Only Job = Negotiate the final form of a bill
• Report the bill back to both House and
Senate

14. Powerful Committees
House
• Rules
• Ways and Means
(taxation, tariffs and
other revenue raising
legislation)
• Appropriations (where
the money goes, how
much)
Senate
• Foreign Relations
• Finance (like the Ways
and Means, but also
deals with Social
Security)
• Appropriations