List of United States House of Representatives committees

Members of the Committee on Financial Services sit in the tiers of raised chairs (R), while those testifying and audience members sit below (L).

There are two main types of congressional committees in the United States House of Representatives, standing committees and select committees. Committee chairs are selected by whichever party is in the majority, and the minority party selects ranking members to lead them. The committees and party conferences may have rules determining term limits for leadership and membership, though waivers can be issued. While the Democrats and Republicans differ on the exact processes by which committee leadership and assignments are chosen, most standing committees are selected by the respective party steering committees and ratified by the party conferences.[1][2] The Ethics, House Administration, Rules and all select committees are chosen by the party leaders (Speaker in the majority and Minority Leader in the minority). Most committees are additionally subdivided into subcommittees, each with its own leadership selected according to the full committee's rules.[3][4] The only standing committee with no subcommittees is the Budget Committee.

The modern House committees were brought into existence through the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946. This bill reduced the number of House committees, as well as restructured the committees' jurisdictions.[5]

  1. ^ Crowley, Joe (July 18, 2017). "Rules of the Democratic Caucus – 115th Congress" (PDF). United States House of Representatives Democratic Caucus. Retrieved January 31, 2019.
  2. ^ Cheney, Liz. "Conference Rules of the 116th Congress". United States House of Representatives Republican Conference. Retrieved January 31, 2019.
  3. ^ Schneider, Judy (October 17, 2014). "House Committees: Categories and Rules for Committee Assignments" (PDF). Congressional Research Service. Retrieved January 30, 2019.
  4. ^ Heitshusen, Valerie (May 2, 2017). "Committee Types and Roles" (PDF). Congressional Research Service. Retrieved January 30, 2019.
  5. ^ "Revolt Against Cannonism". Retrieved April 8, 2007.