We’ve reviewed all of the standing – permanent – committees of the United States Senate. Now, we’ll pivot to the select committees of the upper chamber as well as its one special committee.
What is a Select or Special Committee?
A select committee of the United States Congress is a committee appointed for a specific function or scope that is usually beyond its typical capacity of a standing committee. Such a body is created by a resolution that outlines the scope of its oversight and its vested authorities therein. These committees are often investigative rather than legislative, although some do have the authority to draft and weigh legislation. The committee is given a shelf life when it’s formed, with the expiration often falling on the completion of its predetermined functions. These committees’ lifespans, however, can be renewed. Some select committees in both the House and Senate are treated as standing committees and are seen as permanent bodies; they continue from one session of Congress to the next. The Senate Indian Affairs Committee, which we reviewed last week, is a select committee, although the word “select” is no longer in its formal title.
Select committees were once more common in the earlier days of the republic. In fact, the House relied almost entirely on these bodies for much of the legislative work. Committees were created to carry out specific functions and then terminated when said functions were completed. The first committee ever established by Congress was a select committee to prepare standing rules and orders of House proceedings. It was created during the First Congress on April 2, 1789, and was dissolved just five days after that.
The House created about 600 select committees during the first two-year session. By the Third Congress (1793-1795), Congress had three standing committees but about 350 select committees.
The U.S. Senate, on the other hand, did not introduce standing committees until 1816.
While most select committees were often responsible for a specific slice of the legislative job, some held broader and heavily impactful responsibilities. One such select committee drafted the Missouri Compromise in 1821. The committee existed for just one week. The Missouri Compromise is generally seen as one of the major catalysts of the Civil War in attempting to define free states from slave states upon admission.
In recent years, the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming was formed in 2007 and dissolved in 2011. The House Select Committee on Benghazi was formed in 2014 to investigate the 2012 attack on the American embassy in Benghazi, Libya, that saw the deaths of Ambassador Chris Stevens, U.S. Foreign Service Information Management Office Sean Smith, and two CIA contractors Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty.
That select committee is considered one of the costliest and most partisan congressional investigations in history, and its lifespan was longer than the select committees that were charged with investigating the attack on Pearl Harbor, the assassination of President John F. Kennedy (D-MA), Watergate, and the September 11 attacks. The committee was dissolved in 2016.
Select Committee on Ethics
This committee was first established in 1965 as the Select Committee on Standards and Conduct. Dissolved in 1966, it was replaced by its current iteration in 1977.
The committee operates strictly under the Constitution, Senate rules, and general law. Article I, Section 5, Clause 2 of the Constitution states, “Each House may determine the Rules of its Proceedings, punish its Members for disorderly Behavior, and, with the Concurrence of two thirds, expel a Member.”
Further rules stipulate what constitutes such behavior. The committee has jurisdiction over Senators’ financial disclosure reports, alternative employment, gifts to superiors and federal employees, foreign gifts and decorations, and unauthorized disclosure of intelligence. The committee operates primarily under the Code of Ethics for Government Service (1958), the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act (2007), and the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act (2012).
The committee is structured pursuant to Senate Rule 25, in that it is limited to six members and equally divided between the two parties. Either party can veto any action taken by the committee.
Unlike other committees, the minority party’s highest-ranking member on the committee is called the Vice Chair, not the Ranking Member.
James Lankford (R-OK) serves as Chair, while Chris Coons (D-DE) serves as Vice Chair. Notable chairs of this committee include John C. Stennis (D-MS), Adlai Stevenson III (D-IL), Ted Stevens (R-AK), Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Harry Reid (D-NV), George Voinovich (R-OH), and Barbara Boxer (D-CA).
Select Committee on Intelligence
This committee oversees the U.S. Intelligence Community and its related federal agencies and bureaus. It was established in 1976 in the wake of the Church Committee.
The Church Committee was a select committee that in 1975 was charged with investigating abuses by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the National Security Agency (NSA), the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The committee was formally called the Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities, but is colloquially referred to as the Church Committee after its Chair, Senator Frank Church (D-ID). The committee investigated intelligence abuses around Operation MKULTRA, COINTELPRO, Family Jewels, Project SHAMROCK, and Operation Mockingbird.
The committee is charged with performing an annual review of the intelligence budget submitted by the president. It also drafts legislation for appropriations for civilian and military agencies that are a part of the intelligence community. These bodies include the Office of Director of National Intelligence, the CIA, the Defense Intelligence Agency, the NSA, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, the National Reconnaissance Office, and the intelligence-related aspects of the Department of State, the FBI, the Department of Treasury, and the Department of Energy.
The committee also makes recommendations to the Senate Armed Services Committee for intelligence-related aspects of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps.
The committee is composed of fifteen members, with eight seats reserved for one majority and one minority member from the following standing committees: Appropriations, Armed Services, Foreign Relations, and Judiciary. The other seven seats are composed of four majority members and three minority members. The Majority Leader and Minority Leader of the Senate at-large are non-voting ex officio members of the committee. The same status applies to the Chair and Ranking Member of the Committee on Armed Services if they are not already members of the select committee.
The committee is divided 9R-8D, with one Independent caucusing with the Democrats. Tom Cotton (R-AR) serves as Chair and Mark Warner (D-VA) serves as Vice Chair. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) serves on this committee and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) serves as an ex officio member.
Notable chairs include Barry Goldwater (R-AZ), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), and Marco Rubio (R-FL).
Special Committee on Aging
This committee was established in 1961 as a select committee but became a standing committee in 1977. It retains its name as it has no legislative authority but instead studies issues facing older citizens, especially in the vein of Social Security and Medicare.
Before Medicare was started in 1965, this body was charged with studying healthcare and insurance coverage for older Americans, including, but not limited to, nursing home conditions, age discrimination, and pricing of prescription drugs. The committee also has oversight of the Medicare program, Social Security, and the Older Americans Act. The committee submits its findings as legislative recommendations to the full Senate. The committee also publishes educational materials to “assist older adults and operates a toll-free fraud hotline that offers support to families victimized by con artists and tracks national trends,” according to their website.
The committee is divided 8R-6D. Rick Scott (R-FL) serves as Chair and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) serves as Ranking Member.
