Congress, already divided between the House and Senate, becomes further departmentalized at the committee level. Standing committees are simply those that are permanent. The party with the majority in the chamber of Congress earns the chairmanship and majorities on the chamber’s committees. The top spot for the committee member of the minority party is called the Ranking Member.
Committees are divided to utilize specializations and knowledge of its members as it pertains to a certain area of focus, as well as view legislation before to debate, amend, or table it before the legislation can advance to the floor of the chamber for a vote from all representatives.
While standing committees are permanent, there are several other types of committees and caucuses that serve numerous purposes in Washington. Each committee also has certain subcommittees that are composed of members of the committee at large. For the purpose of this week’s column, we’ll look at the first few of the twenty standing committees afforded to the U.S. House of Representatives.
Agriculture
The Agriculture Committee has general jurisdiction over federal agricultural policies, as well as oversight of some federal agencies. The committee can also provide and recommend funding and support for agricultural research and development.
Created in 1820, the committee was started to give agricultural issues equal weight with commercial and manufacturing interests. Initially a seven-member body, the committee now has fifty-two members: twenty-eight Republicans and twenty-four Democrats.
Agriculture has six subcommittees, the first being the Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities, Risk Management, and Credit. The body has oversight of policies, statutes, and markets pertaining to “barley, cotton, cottonseed, corn, grain sorghum, honey, mohair, oats, other oilseeds, peanuts, pulse crops, rice, soybeans, sugar, wheat, and wool,” according to their website. The subcommittee also deals with Federal Crop Insurance and agricultural credit.
The Forestry Subcommittee deals with policies and statutes regarding forests and forestry under the purview of the Agriculture Committee, particularly the National Forest Service.
The Conservation, Research, and Biotechnology Subcommittee deals with conservation, pest and disease management, pesticides, bioterrorism, research, education, and extension of agricultural studies, and biotechnology.
The Nutrition, Foreign Agriculture, and Horticulture Subcommittee pertains to matters of horticulture, including fruits, vegetables, nuts, ornamentals, and bees. This body also governs from a perspective on nutrition and has oversight of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
The Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry Subcommittee includes inspection, marketing, and promotion of the aforementioned items, as well as seafood. The subcommittee also has oversight of aquaculture, animal welfare, and grazing.
Finally, the Commodity Markets, Digital Assets, and Rural Development Subcommittee handles matters of commodity exchanges, energy, and rural electrification.
Glenn Thompson (R, PA-15) serves as Chair and David Scott (D, GA-13) serves as Ranking Member.
Appropriations
“No money shall be drawn from the Treasury but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law.” – U.S. Constitution Article I, Section 9, Clause 7.
This is what is displayed on the homepage of the Appropriations Committee’s website. This is the constitutional basis for the committee. Appropriations was formed in 1865 to separate the tasks of the Ways and Means Committee into three parts. Legislation affecting taxes remained with Ways and Means, while banking regulation went to Banking and Commerce. The split was mainly due to the burden placed on Congress during the Civil War.
The power to appropriate money, essentially to control the federal pursestrings, was transferred to the Appropriations Committee. The committee is primarily responsible for funding most functions of the federal government.
Composed of sixty-one members – thirty-four Republicans and twenty-seven Democrats – Appropriations has twelve subcommittees, each charged with funding their respective departments of the federal government: Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration; Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies; Defense; Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies; Financial Services and General Government; Homeland Security; Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies; Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies; Legislative Branch; Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies; State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs; and Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies.
Tom Cole (R, OK-04) serves as Chair and Rosa DeLauro (D, CT-03) serves as Ranking Member.
Armed Services
The Armed Services Committee is responsible for the funding and oversight of the Department of Defense and the U.S. Armed Forces, and some portions of the Department of Energy. The committee is responsible for the annual National Defense Authorization Act, which has been passed and enacted every year since 1962.
The committee is made up of fifty-nine members: thirty-one Republicans and twenty-eight Democrats.
The Cyber, Information Technologies, and Innovation Subcommittee is primarily charged with acquiring computer software, matters relating to the electromagnetic spectrum, and electromagnetic warfare.
Intelligence and Special Operations deals with programs related to military and national intelligence, countering weapons of mass destruction, counter-proliferation, counter-terrorism, special operations forces, and other sensitive military operations.
The Military Personnel Subcommittee handles matters relating to military personnel and their families, Reserve Component integration and employment, military health care and education, POW/MIA issues, commissaries, and cemeteries under the auspices of the Department of Defense. It also handles issues of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, military retirement, and the civilian and contract workforce.
The Readiness Subcommittee is tasked with maintaining military readiness, training, logistics and maintenance, military construction, military installations, family housing, and base realignments and closures.
Seapower and Projection Forces handles Navy and Marine Corps acquisiton programs and accounts related tro shipbuilding and conversion, reconnaissance and surveillance, ship and submarine-launched weapons, ammunition, and tanker and airlift aircrafts.
Strategic Forces manages policy related to strategic deterrence and stability, nuclear weapons and safety, nuclear arms control, missile defense, and space.
Tactical Air and Land Forces manages policy and accounts relating to aircraft, ground equipment, missiles, and ammunition. Marine Corps programs are related to ground and amphibious equipment, fighter aircraft, helicopters, and air-launched weapons. Air Force programs are related to electronic warfare aircrafts.
Mike Rogers (R, AL-03) serves as Chair and Adam Smith (D, WA-09) serves as Ranking Member. Congressman Nick LaLota (R, NY-01), a Navy Veteran himself, serves on the Armed Forces Committee, and serves on the subcommittees of Cyber, Information Technology, and Innovation and Tactical Air and Land Forces.
Budget
The Budget Committee is essentially the third part of the financial equation in Congress, along with Appropriations and Banking and Commerce. The committee is tasked with developing a concurrent resolution, one that also includes the Senate’s approval, on a budget to act as a blueprint for spending, revenue, and debt-limit legislation. It considers priorities of the executive and legislative branches, while also accounting for fiscal constraints and fluctuations.
The Budget’s Committee’s makeup is different from those of other committees. The rules of the House require that the committee contains five members of Ways of Means, five members of Appropriations, and one member from Rules. Members of Budget may also not serve more than four in any six successive Congresses. The rotation allows as many House members as possible participation in Budget activities.
Budget is also responsible for “scorekeeping,” reports that are made available to the House at-large at least on a monthly basis. This allows House members to remain aware of budgetary effects of pending and enacted legislation against the recommendations in the budget resolution.
The Budget Committee is comprised of thirty-seven members: twenty-one Republicans and sixteen Democrats. Jodey Arringon (R, TX-19) serves as Chair and Brendan Boyle (D, PA-13) serves as Ranking Member.
Education and the Workforce
The Committee on Education and Labor was founded after the Civil War and during Industrialization. Education and Labor were then split into two separate committees in 1883.
The committee’s purpose is to “ensure that Americans’ needs are addressed so that students and workers may move forward in a changing school system and a competitive global economy,” as per their website.
The Workforce Protections Committee has jurisdiction over wages and work hours pursuant to multiple employment and employee protection laws. It has oversight of workers’ safety and health in focuses of general occupation, mining, immigrant workers, agriculture, and all matters of equal employment opportunity and civil rights in employment.
The Higher Education and Workforce Development Subcommittee is concerned with education and workforce development beyond the high school level, including postsecondary student assistance and employment services, the Higher Education Act, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, all domestic volunteer programs, programs related to arts and humanities, museum and library services, and arts and artifacts indemnity. The subcommittee also has oversight of apprenticeship programs, vocational rehabilitation, adult basic education, the Native American Programs Act, and welfare reform programs.
The Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education Subcommittee has oversight of early learning to the high school level, special education, education for the homeless and migrants, overseas dependent schools, career and technical education, school safety and alcohol and drug abuse prevention, school lunch and child nutrition programs, and educational research and improvement.
The Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions Subcommittee has oversight of relationships between employers and employees, with respect to the National Labor Relations Act, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Labor-Management Relations Act, and the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act. It deals with employment-related health and retirement security, pensions, health, employee benefits, and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).
The committee is composed of forty-five members: twenty-five Republicans and twenty Democrats. Virginia Foxx (R, NC-05) serves as Chair and Bobby Scott (D, VA-03) serves as Ranking Member.
