Congress - Congressional Committees

  • Standing Committee: Permanent, proposed bills are refereed here, one of the most important committees – most work is done here.
  • Joint Committee: Has both members from the House and the Senate.
  • Select/Special Committees: Temporary committee for a specific purpose. They are ad hoc.
  • Conference Committee: Resolve differences in the amended bills from the Senate and the House.
  • House Rule Committee: Powerful, they review bills and made rules on debates
  • Closed Rule: A house bill that cannot be amended
  • Committee Chairs: Always from the majority party with the most seniority.
  • Discharge Petition: A petition that can force a bill to remain
  • Important to note: Most bills never make it out of the committee.
What Does The House Rule Committee Do And Why Is Its Role Vital:
  • A standing committee of the house. Responsible for prioritising bills coming from the committee stage onto the House floor. Open rule – unlimited amendments Can have modified rules that limits the total numbers of amendments – known as closed rule.
Conference Committee:
  • Allows for differences in a bill to be solved. Irons out the differences. They are ad hoc – only started up when needed. Important because they are likely to draft the final bill, they are checked.
Select Committees:
  • Known as special or investigate committees. Set up to investigate a particular issue e.g Invasion. Can be made permanent on request.
  • Can occur when an investigation does not fall within the policy area of one standing committee or is likely to become time consuming for a standing committee e.g Aging, Ethics, Indian Affairs and Intelligence bill.
Why Are Committee Chair Appointments So Significant:
  • Always drawn from the majority party and taken by the seniority rule where the chair of the committee will usually be the member of the majority party with the longest continuous service on that committee.
  • Both parties have put a limit on the amount of time spent in the committee – just three years
  • Important because: Control the agenda, decide when they meet, serve as spokesperson and influence members and can attempt to control the scheduling of legislation.
The Legislative Process:
  1. Introduction: Pure formality, no debate and no vote. Bill is placed into a hopper – a tray on a clerk’s desk. 10-14k are introduced but only 2% of those make it into law.
  2. Committee Stage: Important stage and most bills are likely to fail here. Anything can redact and amended to the bill at this stage and are rewritten before they are sent on.
  3. Timetabling: Because of the vast number of bills coming in, the Senate agrees to debate a bill whilst the House prioritise certain bills over others.
  4. Floor Debate & Voting: The two chambers debate the bill and further amendments can be made. Filibuster can take place but unlikely. Both chambers vote to pass or amend the bill, bills are likely to be different, so they sent off to the conference committee.
  5. Conference Committee: Less likely to occur now as one parties has a majority in both chambers and it has become a rubber stamp event rather than a debate. Ping-ponging where the bill from one chamber is offered on a take it or leave it basis.
  6. Presidential Action: Can sign the into law whilst taking credit, leave the bill on his desk – he doesn’t want take a position. Regular veto – causes Congress to change the bill. Pocket veto – bills are vetoed and lost.
Why Is It Difficult For Congress To Pass Legislation:
  1. Vast number of bills are introduced. Makes the process crowded.
  2. Process is complicated ‘bastion of negation’ The Healthcare Reform in 2010 showed how hard it is because it had to be debated in each Chamber 3 times.
  3. At some stages, a super majority is needed such as 2/3rds majority in both houses to override the POTUS veto.
  4. Power in Congress is decentralised. Much of the power is with standing committee and those who lead it. Party leaders have little to no power, Bob Dole described himself as a ‘majority pleader’.
  5. Both houses have the same power, so it makes the process more difficult. In the UK Parliament one house can override the wishes of the other so legislation is passed more easily but in the USA this does not happen.


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