What is a committee?

A committee in Congress is a smaller group of members assigned to review legislation and hold hearings on a specific policy area. Committees are the workhorses of Congress, where most of the detailed legislative work happens before bills come to the full chamber for debate and a vote.

Congress has three main types of committees: standing committees, select or special committees, and joint committees. Standing committees are permanent panels that handle ongoing legislative work in defined areas. The House has 20 standing committees, including powerful ones such as Appropriations, which controls federal spending, Ways and Means, which writes tax legislation, and Energy and Commerce, which handles a broad range of regulatory issues. The Senate has 16 standing committees, including Appropriations, Finance, Foreign Relations, and Judiciary. Senate committees confirm presidential appointments to executive and judicial positions in their areas of jurisdiction.

Select committees are temporary panels created to investigate specific issues or topics. The Senate Watergate Committee in the 1970s, the House Select Committee on Benghazi in the 2010s, and the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the Capitol are notable examples. Joint committees include members from both chambers and study issues such as economics, taxation, and the operations of Congress itself.

Most major legislation is referred to one or more committees after it is introduced. The committee chair, always a member of the majority party, controls the agenda and decides which bills receive hearings, markups, and votes. Committees can amend bills, hold hearings to gather expert testimony, and conduct oversight investigations of executive agencies under their jurisdiction.

Committee assignments are highly sought after because they shape a member's policy influence. Members who serve on the most powerful committees, such as Senate Finance or House Ways and Means, gain substantial influence over national policy and can attract significant campaign contributions from affected industries. Committee chairs and ranking members (the senior minority party member) are elected by party caucuses based on seniority and party loyalty.