senate committee assignment process

Congressional Rules, Leadership, and Committee Selection

Published on January 31, 2023

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Every two years, at the beginning of each Congress, the House of Representatives is responsible for adopting rules that govern the procedure and process of the chamber, while the Senate uses its traditional rules and procedures. The adoption of these rules is necessary for sessions of Congress to run as smoothly as possible. Standing rules also dictate how party leadership and committee membership are selected. This is a basic guide to rules and procedures in both chambers of Congress.

Rules and Procedures in the House

At the beginning of each Congress, the House of Representatives must vote on a new rules package to determine the rules that will govern the body for the next two years. Before these rules are adopted, the House operates based on general parliamentarian rules. The House usually adopts the rules of the previous Congress and makes amendments the body feels are necessary. The rules package lays out the guidelines for the daily procedure in the House, how the chamber passes legislation, and other rules of decorum.

The House Committee on Rules is among the oldest standing committees and is the mechanism by which the Speaker maintains control of the House Floor. The House Rules Committee has two types of jurisdiction–special orders and original jurisdiction. Special orders, or special rules, determine the rules of debates on a matter or measure on the Floor and are the bulk of the Committee’s work. Original jurisdiction refers to changes being made to the standing rules. The Rules Committee can create or change almost any rule as long as a majority of the House agrees.\

Reporting a special rule to the House Committee on Rules is a process that begins with the committee of jurisdiction requesting a hearing by the Rules Committee. The Rules Committee then holds a hearing in which Members of Congress from the committee of jurisdiction can make their case.

Rules and Procedures in the Senate

Unlike the House of Representatives, the Senate, as a continuing body, does not have to adopt or readopt its rules with each new Congress. A set of standing rules govern proceedings in the Senate in conjunction with a body of precedents created by rulings of presiding officers or by votes of the Senate, a variety of established and customary practices, and ad hoc arrangements the Senate makes. The standing rules guarantee rights to senators, however, these rights are sometimes foregone by senators in the interest of conducting business more quickly.

One rule that separates the Senate from the House is the use of cloture to end a filibuster. Senators can prolong voting on bills by debating at length or using other delaying tactics, but a cloture vote by 60 out of the 100 senators can end the debate and force a vote on the bill.

The Senate Committee on Rules and Administration is responsible for upholding the rules of the Senate floor, the administration of Senate buildings, the credentials and qualifications of senators, and the development and implementation of strategic plans to improve the operations of the Senate. The committee has jurisdiction over any matters relating to the rules and procedures of the Senate rules and regulations. Unlike its counterpart in the House, the Senate Rules and Administration Committee does not need to develop a rules package for each new Congress.

Selection of House and Senate Leadership

Leadership in the House is decided by internal party elections. These elections typically take place behind closed doors via secret ballot in November following the general election. Leadership elections also determine the chairs of the Democratic Caucus and the Republican Conference and the chairs of the two parties’ campaign committees. The parties also elect their nominees for Speaker of the House. The Speaker is elected by a simple majority in a vote put to the entire House of Representatives.

The Speaker is the most powerful member of leadership, followed by the majority leader, minority leader, majority and minority whips, and finally the assistant speaker

In the Senate, leadership consists of the president pro tempore, the majority and minority leaders, conference chairs, policy committee chairs, conference secretaries, and campaign committee chairs. These positions are elected or appointed by their separate parties.

The vice president of the United States serves as the president of the Senate, but the president pro tempore presides over the Senate in the absence of the vice president. The president pro tempore is traditionally, but not always, the most senior member of the majority party in the Senate who is elected to the role by the chamber. Responsibilities of the president pro tempore include appointing the director of the Congressional Budget Office with the Speaker of the House, making appointments to various national commissions and advisory boards, and receiving reports from certain government agencies.

The Democratic leader in the Senate serves as chair of the party conference, but the Senate Republicans divide those duties, electing one person to serve as conference chair and another to serve as leader.

Selection of Committees in the House and Senate

Both parties in both chambers use steering committees, also known as committees on committees, to determine leadership and membership of committees. The Republican Steering Committee and the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee are selected during meetings in November and December after an election. The steering committees then make recommendations to the Republican Conference and Democratic Caucus respectively on committee chairs, ranking minority members, and general committee assignments.

In the House, once the steering committees make recommendations to their parties, the relevant party caucus approves the recommendations of the selection committee. Then the House approves the recommendations of the caucuses, which are brought before the House as privileged resolutions.

Traditionally, though not exclusively, committee chairs have been selected by seniority, so that the longest-serving Members of the committee from the majority and minority parties become the chair and ranking member, respectively, of the committee. Members of the House are typically limited to service on two committees and four subcommittees, with exceptions for particular committees.

In the Senate, the committee assignment process is guided by Senate rules as well as party rules and practices. The Senate governs committee operations through its Standing Rules XXIV-XXVIII.

Senators are formally elected to standing committees by the entire membership of the Senate, but in practice, each party conference is largely responsible for determining which of its members will sit on each committee. Just as they do in the house, steering committees from both parties make recommendations on committee leadership and assignments. In both party conferences, the floor leader has the authority to make some committee assignments, which can provide the leader with a method of promoting party discipline through the granting or withholding of desired assignments. The number of seats a party holds in the Senate determines its share of seats on each committee.

Senate rules divide committees into three categories based on their importance: Class A, Class B, and Class C. Each senator may serve on no more than two Class A committees and one Class B committee, unless granted special permission. There are no limits to service on Class C committees.

In both chambers, the Republican party has term limits on committee leadership roles.

Links to Other Resources

• Congressional Research Service – ​ Commonly Used Motions and Requests in the House of Representatives
• Congressional Research Service – ​ House and Senate Rules of Procedure: A Comparison
• Congressional Research Service – House Standing Committee Chairs and Ranking Minority Members: Rules Governing Selection Procedures
• CNN – What to know about upcoming House leadership elections
• GovInfo – Congressional Calendars
• Office of the Historian of the United States House of Representatives – House Committees
• Roll Call – ​ House adopts rules package for 118th Congress
• United States Congress – ​Glossary of Legislative Terms
• United States House of Representatives – ​ A Guide to the Rules, Precedents, and Procedures of the House
• United States House of Representatives – ​ The Legislative Process
• Unites States Senate – Rules and Procedure
• United States Senate – ​When a New Congress Begins

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How are members of US Congressional committees selected?

I gather that each committee has an assigned number of major/minor party spaces, but what is the selection process for the members who serve on each committee in the Senate/house committees?

• united-states

• 1 I think it's like middle school gym class. –  user1530 Commented Jan 29, 2016 at 5:57

Unlike many other features of the government, Congressional committees are not specified by the Constitution or law. They are entirely a product of the party system (although legislators have created House/Senate rules regarding them).

There are also several kinds of committees.

Standing Committees

Standing committees are "normal" committees. They exist pretty much every session and originate laws.

Prior to each session, leadership from both parties meet to determine how large each committee will be, and what number of Republicans and Democrats will appear in each. Generally each party is represented proportionally.

Each party will have its own internal 'committee on committees' to make committee assignments. Each legislator makes their preferences known, and the committee makes these assignments. The assignments are then approved by the party. Finally, committee assignments must be passed as a resolution in their chamber (so Senate committee assignments require a Senate resolution).

There can be quite a lot of politics here. Legislators generally want to be on committees that are important to their constituents. Party leadership may want to give high visibility positions to loyal party members. Members of the committee on committees may attempt to reward their own supporters within their party.

• FAQ from the Clerk of the House of Representatives
• Congressional Research Service paper on Senate Committee Assignment processes

Special, Select, and Joint Committees

Special and select committees are established by Congressional acts. Typically the act will specify the composition of the committee. Joint committees have members from both chambers.

The party nomination/approval process generally still happens, as long as the committee continues to exist. In these cases party leadership typically have much more influence. These committees are often more strategic than standing committees, and their more ad-hoc nature means there are fewer rules regarding them.

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How Senate Republicans Make Committee Assignments

The Senate assigns senators to serve on its committees at the beginning of every two-year Congress by passing resolutions constituting the majority- and minority-party memberships on each panel. The majority and minority slates are assembled separately by the Democratic Caucus and Republic Conference.

The committee assignment process is regulated by the Standing Rules of the Senate, Democratic Caucus/Republican Conference Rules, and Caucus/Conference precedents (or past practice). Relevant provisions of these procedural authorities limit senators’ total number of committee assignments and the circumstances in which they can serve on specific panels. However, Democrats and Republicans regularly waive these limitations to ensure that they can fill all their committee seats with the most qualified candidates.

Senate Rules

The Senate typically assigns senators to its standing committees by passing a resolution. Rule XXIV stipulates, “In the appointment of the standing committees, or to fill vacancies thereon, the Senate, unless otherwise ordered, shall by resolution appoint the chairman of each committee and the other members thereof.” 

Rule XXV limits the number of committees on which a senator may serve. Senators approved the limitation in the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970 (Public Law 91-510). Specifically, the rule stipulates that “each Senator shall serve on two and no more” so-called A committees. The Senate’s A Committees are Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry; Appropriations; Armed Services; Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs; Commerce, Science, and Transportation; Energy and Natural Resources; Environment and Public Works; Finance; Foreign Relations; Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions; Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs; Judiciary.

Rule XXV also caps the total number of seats on each committee. It authorizes the majority and minority leaders to temporarily increase the size of committees “by such number or numbers as may be required to accord the majority party a majority of the membership of all standing committees.” When that happens, “members of the majority party in such number as may be required for that purpose may serve as members of three standing committees.”

Rule XXV allows only majority party members to serve on more than two committees. It stipulates that “no such temporary increase in the membership of any standing committee…shall be continued in effect after the need therefor has ended.” The Senate must amend the relevant provisions of Rule XXV to change the number of minority party committee seats and to assign minority party members to more than two A Committees (or to waive its provisions regarding majority party members in other ways).

The Senate amends Rule XXV when it constitutes the majority and minority memberships on its committees. Senators may also waive the relevant provisions of Rule XXV by unanimous consent . The Senate last amended Rule XXV’s total seat cap and two-seat per senator limit at the beginning of the 117th Congress. Those changes expired at the end of the 117th Congress. Consequently, senators must amend Rule XXV again to adjust the number of committee seats and senators’ two-seat limit in the 118th Congress.

Senators do not accrue seniority on their third-A committee assignment. Third-A committee senators are listed at the end of each panel’s membership roster.

The Republican Conference

The rules and past practices of the Republican Conference regulate its internal committee assignment process.

Conference Rules

Republican Conference rules regulate how the party selects senators to serve on specific committees. For example, conference Rule V establishes "a Committee on Committees…to prepare and recommend to the Conference the complete assignments of Republican Senators to committees listed in Rule XXV."

Rule V, paragraph 5 allows the Republican Leader to “appoint half of all vacancies of each ‘A’ committee.” The rule allows the Republican Leader to appoint “half plus one” when there are an odd number of vacancies. For example, if there are three vacancies, the Republican Leader appoints two. The Republican Leader does not have to follow seniority when making assignments.

Conference Rule V prohibits senators from serving on more than one Super-A Committee. Paragraph G stipulates , “No Senator shall serve at any time on more than one of the following committees: Committee on Appropriations, Committee on Armed Services, Committee on Finance, and Committee on Foreign Relations.”

Conference Precedents

Republican Conference precedents also limit the committees on which senators can serve. These precedents reflect past practice according to the Conference and the Senate's Standing Rules. They are listed at the end of the Conference rules under "Supplement to the Republican Conference Rules." The Supplement to the Republican Conference Rules lists several informal practices as “previous actions of Republican Conferences and of the Committee on Committees, to be considered as precedents.”

The same-state precedent bars two Republican senators from the same state from serving on the same committee. On January 2, 1947, Edward V. Robertson, R-Wyo., referred to the “understanding” that “no two Senators of the same party from the same State shall be members of the same Committee” when presenting the Committee on Committees report to the Conference. And on February 19, 1963, Minority Leader Everett Dirksen, R-Ill., referred to “the precedent that no two Senators of the same party from the same State shall serve on the same Committee.”

Putting It All Together

Conference Rule V details how Republicans make committee assignments. At the beginning of every Congress, “all Republican Conference members shall be offered two ‘A’ committee slots in order of seniority. Next, newly elected senators are offered one committee slot in order of seniority, followed by another. ( Rule V(E) and 5(H) specify how seniority is determined for returning senators and newly elected senators.) Finally, the Republican Leader makes any remaining committee assignments once all senators have chosen two committee slots.

The Republican Leader and Committee on Committees consider several factors when they depart from seniority in making committee assignments. The Committee on Committees summed up those factors in 1947.

“ In arriving at our recommendations, we have been guided largely by seniority on existing standing committees – by the Senator’s preferences – by the relative importance of existing committee memberships – by a Senator’s background and experience which is generally evident in his preferences – and by geographic location. ”

Once complete, the Committee on Committees reports its proposed committee assignments to the Republican Conference for approval. (Note: The Committee on Committees reported the slate of Republican assignments directly to the Senate, skipping Conference approval, in 1931.) At that point, the Conference considers whether to grant any waivers to the limitations in its rules and precedents. While the Republican Leader and members of the Committee on Committees may base their recommendations on Conference rules and precedents, only the Conference can grant a waiver to its rules and precedents. For example, the Committee on Committees deferred to the Conference the question of why two senators from the same State could not serve on the same committee in 1962 . Its members “generally agreed that this being a Conference matter, the Committee on Committees could, of course, raise the question and by motion present the matter to the Conference for its action.”

The Takeaway

The rules and practices that regulate the committee assignment process in the Senate Republican Conference limit the number of committees a senator may serve and the circumstances in which they can serve on each panel. The Republican Conference regularly waives its same-state limit, and the full Senate regularly amends Rule XXV to allow senators to temporarily serve on a third A committee when needed. Waiving Republicans' same-state limit requires the approval of the members of the Republican Conference only. In contrast, waiving the two-committee limit in Rule XXV requires the approval of the full Senate.

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