Committees in Congress

Committees in Congress

This is where the real work gets done in Congress!

What are committees?

• Smaller groups that specialize in certain areas that impact American life and government

• Each committee is headed by a chairperson and a ranking member

• Committees can be further broken down into subcommittees that hold hearings on bills and bring in experts to testify for and against the bill

Open Ended

Why do you think the committees are used in Congress to get work done on bills?

What types of committees are there?

• Standing committees

• Select committees

• Joint committees

• Conference committees

Standing Committees

• permanent

• 20 in the House and 16 in the Senate

• The House Committee on Ways and Means is the oldest committee and the Committee on Homeland Security is the newest committee in the House

• In the Senate, the Senate Committee on the Judiciary is one of the originial standing committees first created in 1816

Multiple Select

Go to www.house.gov/committees and look at the list of standing committees in the House. Mark all committees listed below that exist in the House.

• Armed Services

• Confirmations

• Ways and Means

• Taxation

• Rules

Open Ended

Of the committees listed on the House of Representatives website, which one would be of the most interest to you to be on? Explain why.

Select Committees (aka Special Committees)

• Designed to be temporary committees but several are labeled as permanent select committees

• They have a very specific focus and not broad focus like the standing committees; tend to be investigative rather than legislative

• Select committees include House Select Committee on Aging, House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, Select Committee on the Climate Crisis, Senate Special Committee on Aging, Senate Indian Affairs Committee

Multiple Choice

Select committees are also known as:

• conference committees

• permanent issue

• special

• legislative

Multiple Choice

Select committees tend to be legislative, not investigative.

• True

• False

Joint Committees

• Special committees made up of members of the House and Senate

• Handle issues that need to be dealt with more quickly and on a regular basis; very specific duties

• Joint Committee on the Library of Congress, Joint Committee on Printing, Joint Committee on Taxation, Joint Committee on the Economy

Multiple Select

Of the following, which issues does Congress have a joint committee to deal with?

• Library of Congress

• Economy

• Printing

• Taxation

What is a conference committee?

• It's a special joint committee

• Created to work out the differences between a bill passed by both the House and Senate but with different words or ideas

• Conference committee will create a finalized version of a bill that has to be voted on by both the House and Senate before it can be sent to the President

Multiple Choice

Conference committees are a special type of joint committee.

• True

• False

Committee Chairs and Ranking Members

Each committee is headed by a chairperson who represents the majority party and a ranking member who represents the minority party on that committee