[Constitution, Jefferson's Manual, and the Rules of the House of Representatives, 115th Congress] [115th Congress] [House Document 114-192] [Rules of the House of Representatives] [Pages 441-554] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov] Rule X Committees and their legislative jurisdictions organization of committees
714. Number and jurisdiction of standing committees. | 1. There shall be in the House the following standing committees, each of which shall have the jurisdiction and related functions assigned by this clause and clauses 2, 3, and 4. All bills, resolutions, and other matters relating to subjects within the jurisdiction of the standing committees listed in this clause shall be referred to those committees, in accordance with clause 2 of rule XII, as follows: |
Sec. 715. Agriculture. | (1) Adulteration of seeds, insect pests, and protection of birds and animals in forest reserves. |
Sec. 716. Appropriations. | (1) Appropriation of the revenue for the support of the Government. |
Sec. 717. Responsibilities under Budget Act. | Effective July 12, 1974, special Presidential messages on rescissions and deferrals of budget authority submitted pursuant to sections 1012 and 1013 of the Impoundment Control Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 683, 684), as well as rescission bills and impoundment resolutions defined in section 1011 (2 U.S.C. 682) and required in section 1017 (2 U.S.C. 688) to be referred to the appropriate committee, are referred to the Committee on Appropriations if the proposed rescissions or deferrals involve funds already appropriated or obligated. Also effective July 12, 1974, the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (sec. 404(a)) added to the committee's jurisdiction, which was later perfected by the Committee Reform Amendments of 1974 (H. Res. 988, 93d Cong., Oct. 8, 1974, p. 34470, subparagraphs (2), (3), and (4)). |
Sec. 718. Armed Services. | (1) Ammunition depots; forts; arsenals; and Army, Navy, and Air Force reservations and establishments. |
Sec. 719. Budget. | (1) Concurrent resolutions on the budget (as defined in section 3(4) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974), other matters required to be referred to the committee under titles III and IV of that Act, and other measures setting forth appropriate levels of budget totals for the United States Government. |
Sec. 720. Education and the Workforce. | (2) Gallaudet University and Howard University and Hospital. |
Sec. 721. Energy and Commerce. | (2) Consumer affairs and consumer protection. |
Sec. 721b. Ethics. | In the 90th Congress the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct was established as a standing committee (H. Res. 418, Apr. 13, 1967, p. 9425). Its precursor was the Select Committee on Standards and Conduct, created in the 89th Congress (H. Res. 1013, Oct. 19, 1966, pp. 27713-30). At various times in its history, the legislative jurisdiction of the committee has included jurisdiction over measures relating to (1) financial disclosure by Members, officers, and employees of the House (H. Res. 1099, 90th Cong., Apr. 3, 1968, p. 8776); (2) the raising, reporting, and use of campaign contributions for candidates for the House (H. Res. 988, 93d Cong., Oct. 8, 1974, p. 34470); and (3) lobbying activities (H. Res. 1031, 91st Cong., July 8, 1970, p. 23141). However, legislative jurisdiction over measures relating to financial disclosure was transferred to the Committee on Rules in the 95th Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 4, 1977, pp. 53-70); legislative jurisdiction over measures relating to campaign contributions for candidates for the House was transferred to House Administration, and legislative jurisdiction over measures relating to lobbying activities was removed from the committee (thereby devolving on the Committee on the Judiciary) in the 94th Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 14, 1975, p. 20). Clerical and stylistic changes were effected when the House recodified its rules in the 106th Congress, including the deletion of a redundant undesignated recitation of general and special functions (H. Res. 5, Jan. 6, 1999, p. 47). In the 112th Congress it was redesignated as the Committee on Ethics (sec. 2(e)(8), H. Res. 5, Jan. 5, 2011, p. 80). |
Sec. 721c. Former Select Committees on Ethics. | In the 95th Congress, the House established a Select Committee on Ethics and granted it exclusive legislative jurisdiction over bills that incorporated into permanent law provisions of House rules addressing financial ethics of Members, officers, and employees (H. Res. 383, Mar. 9, 1977, pp. 6811-16). The Select Committee was also granted jurisdiction to promulgate implementing regulations and to issue advisory opinions. The resolution creating the Select Committee provided that it would expire on December 31, 1977, but the committee and its functions ultimately were extended through the completion of its official business (H. Res. 871, Oct. 31, 1977, p. 35957). |
Sec. 722. Financial Services. | (2) Economic stabilization, defense production, renegotiation, and control of the price of commodities, rents, and services. |
Sec. 723. Foreign Affairs. | (1) Relations of the United States with foreign nations generally. |
Sec. 723a. Homeland Security. | (1) Overall homeland security policy. |
Sec. 723b. Former Select Committees on Homeland Security. | In the 107th Congress the House established a Select Committee on Homeland Security (H. Res. 449, June 19, 2002, p. 10722). Its mission was to develop recommendations on such matters that relate to the establishment of a department of homeland security as may be referred to it by the Speaker and on recommendations submitted to it by standing committees to which the Speaker referred a bill establishing the department and to report its recommendation to the House on such bill. It was terminated after final disposition of the specified bill (Nov. 25, 2002, p. 23433). In the 108th Congress the House reestablished a Select Committee on Homeland Security (sec. 4, H. Res. 5, Jan. 7, 2003, p. 11). Its mission was to develop recommendations on such matters that relate to the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (P.L. 107-296) as may be referred to it by the Speaker; to conduct oversight of laws, programs, and Government activities relating to homeland security; to conduct a study of the operation and implementation of the Rules of the House, including rule X, with respect to homeland security; and to report its recommendations to the House by bill or otherwise on matters referred to it by the Speaker and to report its recommendations on changes to House rules to the Committee on Rules. |
Sec. 724. House Administration. | (1) Appropriations from accounts for committee salaries and expenses (except for the Committee on Appropriations); House Information Resources; and allowance and expenses of Members, Delegates, the Resident Commissioner, officers, and administrative offices of the House. |
Sec. 725. House facilities. | The committee has jurisdiction over measures relating to the House Restaurant (2 U.S.C. 2041), which was first under the jurisdiction of the former Committee on Accounts, then under the supervision of the Architect of the Capitol (H. Res. 590, 76th Cong., Sept. 5, 1940, p. 11552, as made permanent law by P.L. 76- 812), and then the Select Committee on the House Restaurant (H. Res. 472, 91st Cong., July 10, 1969, p. 19080; H. Res. 111, 93d Cong., Feb. 7, 1973, p. 3680), which was not reestablished after the 93d Congress. |
Sec. 727. Library. | Under the Reorganization Act the committee has jurisdiction over some of the subjects formerly within the jurisdiction of the Joint Committee on the Library, such as matters relating to the Library of Congress and the House Library, statuary and pictures, acceptance or purchase of works of art for the Capitol, the Botanic Gardens, management of the Library of Congress, purchase of books and manuscripts, matters relating to the Smithsonian Institution, and the incorporation of similar institutions. Excepted are measures relating to the construction or reconstruction, maintenance, and care of the buildings and grounds of the Botanic Gardens, the Library of Congress, and the Smithsonian Institution, which fall under the jurisdiction of the Committee on Transportation (now Transportation and Infrastructure). The House members of the Joint Committee on the Library, provided for by law (2 U.S.C. 132b), are elected by resolution each Congress. |
Sec. 728. Congressional Record. | The committee has jurisdiction over matters relating to printing and correction of the Congressional Record, formerly within the jurisdiction of the erstwhile Committee on Printing. The House members of the Joint Committee on Printing, provided for by law (44 U.S.C. 101), are elected by resolution each Congress. |
Sec. 729. Judiciary. | (1) The judiciary and judicial proceedings, civil and criminal. |
Sec. 730. Internal Security. | (19) Subversive activities affecting the in- ternal security of the United States. |
Sec. 731. Natural Resources. | (1) Fisheries and wildlife, including research, restoration, refuges, and conservation. |
Sec. 732. Oversight and Government Reform. | (1) Federal civil service, including intergovernmental personnel; and the status of officers and employees of the United States, including their compensation, classification, and retirement. |
Sec. 733. Rules. | (1) Rules and joint rules (other than those relating to the Code of Official Conduct) and the order of business of the House. |
Sec. 734. Special orders of business. | Since 1883 the Committee on Rules has reported special orders providing times and methods for consideration of individual measures or classes of measures, thereby enabling the House by majority vote to forward particular legislation, instead of being forced to use for this purpose the motion to suspend the rules, which requires a two-thirds vote (IV, 3152; V, 6870; for forms of, IV, 3238-3263). |
Sec. 735. Science, Space, and Technology. | (1) All energy research, development, and demonstration, and projects therefor, and all federally owned or operated nonmilitary energy laboratories. |
Sec. 736. Small Business. | (1) Assistance to and protection of small business, including financial aid, regulatory flexibility, and paperwork reduction. |
Sec. 739. Transportation and Infrastructure. | (1) Coast Guard, including lifesaving service, lighthouses, lightships, ocean derelicts, and the Coast Guard Academy. |
Sec. 740. Veterans' Affairs. | (2) Cemeteries of the United States in which veterans of any war or conflict are or may be buried, whether in the United States or abroad (except cemeteries administered by the Secretary of the Interior). |
Sec. 741. Ways and Means. | (1) Customs revenue, collection districts, and ports of entry and delivery. |
742. General oversight. | 2. (a) The various standing committees shall have general oversight responsibilities as provided in paragraph (b) in order to assist the House in-- |
Sec. 743. Oversight subcommittees. | (2) Each committee to which subparagraph (1) applies having more than 20 members shall establish an oversight subcommittee, or require its subcommittees to conduct oversight in their respective jurisdictions, to assist in carrying out its responsibilities under this clause. The establishment of an oversight subcommittee does not limit the responsibility of a subcommittee with legislative jurisdiction in carrying out its oversight responsibilities. |
744. Special oversight. | 3. (a) The Committee on Appropriations shall conduct such studies and examinations of the organization and operation of executive departments and other executive agencies (including an agency the majority of the stock of which is owned by the United States) as it considers necessary to assist it in the determination of matters within its jurisdiction. |
745. Committee on Appropriations; budget hearings. | 4. (a)(1)(A) The Committee on Appropriations shall, within 30 days after the transmittal of the Budget to Congress each year, hold hearings on the Budget as a whole with particular reference to-- |
Sec. 746. Procedure for budget hearings. | (C) A hearing under subdivision (A), or any part thereof, shall be held in open session, except when the committee, in open session and with a quorum present, determines by record vote that the testimony to be taken at that hearing on that day may be related to a matter of national security. The committee may by the same procedure close one subsequent day of hearing. A transcript of all such hearings shall be printed and a copy thereof furnished to each Member, Delegate, and the Resident Commissioner. |
Sec. 747a. Former Select Intelligence Oversight Panel. | A former subparagraph (5) added in the 110th Congress established a Select Intelligence Oversight Panel of the Committee on Appropriations to review budget requests for and execution of intelligence activities (H. Res. 35, Jan. 9, 2007, p. 567). It was abolished in the 112th Congress (sec. 2(e)(10), H. Res. 5, Jan. 5, 2011, p. 80). |
Sec. 748. Budget. | (1) review on a continuing basis the conduct by the Congressional Budget Office of its functions and duties; |
Sec. 749. Oversight and Government Reform. | (c)(1) The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform shall-- |
Sec. 749a. Deposition authority. | (3)(A) The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform may adopt a rule authorizing and regulating the taking of depositions by a member or counsel of the committee, including pursuant to subpoena under clause 2(m) of rule XI (which hereby is made applicable for such purpose). |
Sec. 750. House Administration. | (d)(1) The Committee on House Administration shall-- |
Sec. 752. Direction of officers. | (A) provide policy direction for the Chief Administrative Officer and the Inspector General and oversight of the Clerk, Sergeant-at-Arms, Chief Administrative Officer, and Inspector General; |
Sec. 753. Acceptance of gifts. | (C) have the function of accepting on behalf of the House a gift, except as otherwise provided by law, if the gift does not involve a duty, burden, or condition, or is not made dependent on some future performance by the House; |
Sec. 754. Approval of certain settlements. | (2) An employing office of the House may enter into a settlement of a complaint under the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 that provides for the payment of funds only after receiving the joint approval of the chair and ranking minority |
Sec. 755. Annual appropriations. | (e)(1) Each standing committee shall, in its consideration of all public bills and public joint resolutions within its jurisdiction, ensure that appropriations for continuing programs and activities of the Federal Government and the government of the District of Columbia will be made annually to the maximum extent feasible and consistent with the nature, requirement, and objective of the programs and activities involved. In this subparagraph programs and activities of the Federal Government and the government of the District of Columbia includes programs and activities of any department, agency, establishment, wholly owned Government corporation, or instrumentality of the Federal Government or of the government of the District of Columbia. |
756. Concurrent resolution on Budget. | (f)(1) Each standing committee shall submit to the Committee on the Budget not later than six weeks after the submission of the budget by the President, or at such time as the Committee on the Budget may request-- |
757. Electing committees. | 5. (a)(1) The standing committees specified in clause 1 shall be elected by the House within seven calendar days after the commencement of each Congress, from nominations submitted by the respective party caucus or conference. A resolution proposing to change the composition of a standing committee shall be privileged if offered by direction of the party caucus or conference concerned. |
Sec. 758. Budget, composition of. | (2)(A) The Committee on the Budget shall be composed of members as follows: |
Sec. 759. Committee on Ethics. | (3)(A) The Committee on Ethics shall be composed of 10 members, five from the majority party and five from the minority party. |
Sec. 760. Party membership as basis for election. | (b)(1) Membership on a standing committee during the course of a Congress shall be contingent on continuing membership in the party caucus or conference that nominated the Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner concerned for election to such committee. Should a Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner cease to be a member of a particular party caucus or conference, that Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner shall automatically cease to be a member of each standing committee to which elected on the basis of nomination by that caucus or conference. The chair of the relevant party caucus or conference shall notify the Speaker whenever a Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner ceases to be a member of that caucus or conference. The Speaker shall notify the chair of each affected committee that the election of such Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner to the committee is automatically vacated under this subparagraph. |
Sec. 761. Committee chairs. | (c)(1) One of the members of each standing committee shall be elected by the House, on the nomination of the majority party caucus or conference, as chair thereof. In the absence of the member serving as chair, the member next in rank (and so on, as often as the case shall happen) shall act as chair. Rank shall be determined by the order members are named in resolutions electing them to the committee. In the case of a vacancy in the elected chair of a committee, the House shall elect another chair. |
Sec. 762. Requirement for subcommittees. | (d)(1) Except as permitted by subparagraph (2), a committee may have not more than five subcommittees. |
763. Primary expense resolution. | 6. (a) Whenever a committee, commission, or other entity (other than the Committee on Appropriations) is granted authorization for the payment of its expenses (including staff salaries) for a Congress, such authorization initially shall be procured by one primary expense resolution reported by the Committee on House Administration. A primary expense resolution may include a reserve fund for unanticipated expenses of committees. An amount from such a reserve fund may be allocated to a committee only by the approval of the Committee on House Administration. A primary |
Sec. 765. Additional expense resolution. | (b) After the date of adoption by the House of a primary expense resolution for a committee, commission, or other entity for a Congress, authorization for the payment of additional expenses (including staff salaries) in that Congress may be procured by one or more supplemental expense resolutions reported by the Committee on House Administration, as necessary. A supplemental expense resolution reported to the House may not be considered in the House unless a printed report thereon was available on the previous calendar day. For the information of the House, such report shall-- |
Sec. 766. Exception for certain initial funding. | (1) a resolution providing for the payment from committee salary and expense accounts of the House of sums necessary to pay compensation for staff services performed for, or to pay other expenses of, a committee, commission, or other entity at any time after the beginning of an odd-numbered year and before the date of adoption by the House of the primary expense resolution described in paragraph (a) for that year; or |
Sec. 767. Funds for committee staffs; expense resolutions. | (d) From the funds made available for the appointment of committee staff by a primary or additional expense resolution, the chair of each committee shall ensure that sufficient staff is made avail |
768. Interim funding. | 7. (a) For the period beginning at noon on January 3 and ending at midnight on March 31 in each odd- numbered year, such sums as may be necessary shall be paid out of the committee salary and expense accounts of the House for continuance of necessary investigations and studies by-- |
769. Committee travel. | 8. (a) Local currencies owned by the United States shall be made available to the committee and its employees engaged in carrying out their official duties outside the United States or its territories or possessions. Appropriated funds, including those authorized under this clause and clause 6, may not be expended for the purpose of defraying expenses of members of a committee or its employees in a country where local currencies are available for this purpose. |
Sec. 770. Travel reports. | (3) Each member or employee of a committee shall make to the chair of the committee an itemized report |
771. Thirty professional staff. | 9. (a)(1) Subject to subparagraph (2) and paragraph (f), each standing committee may appoint, by majority vote, not more than 30 professional staff members to be compensated from the funds provided for the ap |
Sec. 773. Minority. | (2) Subject to paragraph (f) whenever a majority of the minority party members of a standing committee (other than the Committee on Ethics or the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence) so request, not more than 10 persons (or one-third of the total professional committee staff appointed under this clause, whichever is fewer) may be selected, by majority vote of the minority party members, for appointment by the committee as professional staff members under subparagraph (1). The committee shall appoint persons so selected whose character and qualifications are acceptable to a majority of the committee. If the committee determines that the character and qualifications of a person so selected are unacceptable, a majority of the minority party members may select another person for appointment by the committee to the professional staff until such appointment is made. Each professional staff member appointed under this subparagraph shall be assigned to such committee business as the minority party members of the committee consider advisable. |
Sec. 774. Consultants and training. | Committees may, with the approval of the Committee on House Administration, procure the temporary or intermittent services of consultants and obtain specialized training for professional staff, subject to expense resolutions, under the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970, sections 303 and 304 (2 U.S.C. 4301(i) and (j)). |
Sec. 775. Staff duties. | (b)(1) The professional staff members of each standing committee-- |
Sec. 776. ``Associate'' or ``shared'' staff. | (2)(A) Subparagraph (1) does not apply to staff designated by a committee as ``associate'' or ``shared'' staff who are not paid exclusively by the committee, provided that the chair certifies that the compensation paid by the committee for any such staff is commensurate with the work performed for the committee in accordance with clause 8 of rule XXIII. |
Sec. 777. Pay. | (c) Each employee on the professional or investigative staff of a standing committee shall be entitled to pay at a single gross per annum rate, to be fixed by the chair and that does not exceed the maximum rate of pay as in effect from time to time under applicable provisions of law. |
Sec. 778. Staff, Committee on Appropriations. | (d) Subject to appropriations hereby authorized, the Committee on Appropriations may appoint by majority vote such staff as it determines to be necessary (in addition to the clerk of the committee and assistants for the minority). The staff appointed under this paragraph, other than minority assistants, shall possess such qualifications as the committee may prescribe. |
Sec. 779. Detailed employees. | (e) A committee may not appoint to its staff an expert or other personnel detailed or assigned from a department or agency of the Government except with the written permission of the Committee on House Administration. |
Sec. 780. Nonpartisan staff. | (i) Notwithstanding paragraph (a)(2), a committee may employ nonpartisan staff, in lieu of or in addition to committee staff designated exclusively for the majority or minority party, by an affirmative vote of a majority of the members of the majority party and of a majority of the members of the minority party. |
Sec. 781. Former reports on staff. | Effective in the 95th Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 4, 1977, pp. 53-70), former clause 6(j) of rule XI, which was added on January 3, 1953 (p. 24) and which was contained in section 134(b) of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1945, was deleted; that clause required committees to report semiannually to the Clerk on the names, professions, and salaries of committee employees. |
782. Party membership as basis for appointment. | 10. (a) Membership on a select or joint committee appointed by the Speaker under clause 11 of rule I during the course of a Congress shall be contingent on continuing membership in the party caucus or conference of which the Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner concerned was a member at the time of appointment. Should a Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner cease to be a member of that caucus or conference, that Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner shall automatically cease to be a member of any select or joint committee to which assigned. The chair of the relevant party caucus or conference shall notify the Speaker whenever a Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner ceases to be a member of a party caucus or conference. The Speaker shall notify the chair of each affected select or joint committee that the appointment of such Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner to the select or joint committee is automatically vacated under this paragraph. |
Sec. 783. Select and joint committee compliance. | (b) Each select or joint committee, other than a conference committee, shall comply with clause 2(a) of rule XI unless specifically exempted by law. |
Sec. 784. Aging. | A paragraph (i) of former clause 6 of rule X was incorporated into the rules effective January 3, 1975 (H. Res. 988, 93d Cong., Oct. 8, 1974, p. 34470), to provide for a permanent select committee on aging. That provision was stricken in the 103d Congress (H. Res. 5, Jan. 5, 1993, p. 49). |
785. Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. | 11. (a)(1) There is established a Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (hereafter in this clause referred to as the ``select committee''). The select committee shall be composed of not more than 22 Members, Delegates, or the Resident Commissioner, of whom not more than 13 may be from the same party. The select committee shall include at least one Member, Delegate, or the Resident Commissioner from each of the following committees: |
Sec. 786. Membership, administration, jurisdiction. | This clause (formerly rule XLVIII) was adopted in the 95th Congress (H. Res. 658, July 14, 1977, pp. 22932-49) and has had several technical amendments: (1) to change the size of the committee from 13 to 14 members (H. Res. 70, 96th Cong., Jan. 25, 1979, p. 1023); (2) to conform references to a renamed committee (H. Res. 89, 96th Cong., Feb. 5, 1979, p. 1848); (3) to change the size to not more than 16 members (H. Res. 33, 99th Cong., Jan. 30, 1985, p. 1271); (4) to change the size to not more than 17 members and to change the cross-reference in clause 7(c)(1) to include paragraph (a) or (b) (H. Res. 5, 100th Cong., Jan. 6, 1987, p. 6); (5) to change the size to not more than 19 members (H. Res. 5, 101st Cong., Jan. 3, 1989, p. 73) and to permit the Speaker to attend meetings and have access to information (H. Res. 268, Nov. 14, 1989, p. 28789); (6) to strike obsolete language relating to tenure restrictions in clause 1 and relating to the requirement for authorizations of appropriations in clause 9 (H. Res. 5, 102d Cong., Jan. 3, 1991, p. 39); (7) to limit the size of the panel to 16, with no more than nine members from the same party; to set the tenure limitation at four Congresses within a period of six Congresses, with exceptions for ongoing service as chair or ranking minority member; to make the Speaker (rather than the Majority Leader) an ex officio member of the panel (as opposed to former free access to its meetings and information); and to conform references to renamed committees (sec. 221, H. Res. 6, 104th Cong., Jan. 4, 1995, p. 469); (8) to make certain conforming changes (Budget Enforcement Act of 1997, sec. 10104, P.L. 105-33; H. Res. 5, Jan. 6, 1999, p. 47); (9) to increase the size of the committee to not more than 18 members, of whom not more than 10 shall be of the same political party (sec. 2(h), H. Res. 5, 107th Cong., Jan. 3, 2001, p. 25); (10) to make a clerical correction in a cross reference (sec. 2(x), H. Res. 5, 107th Cong., Jan. 3, 2001, p. 26); (11) to remove the tenure limitation for the chair and ranking minority member (sec. 2(e-1), H. Res. 5, 108th Cong., Jan. 7, 2003, p. 7); (12) to increase the size of the committee to not more than 21 members, of whom not more than 12 shall be of the same political party (H. Res. 51, 109th Cong., Jan. 26, 2005, p. 826); (13) to conform references to a renamed committee (sec. 213(c), H. Res. 6, 110th Cong., Jan. 4, 2007, p. 19); (14) to conform jurisdictional statements to changes in the intelligence community (sec. 504, H. Res. 6, 110th Cong., Jan. 4, 2007, p. 19 (adopted Jan. 5, 2007)); (15) to eliminate gender-based references (sec. 2(l), H. Res. 5, 111th Cong., Jan. 6, 2009, p. 7); (16) to increase the size of the committee to not more than 22 members, of whom not more than 13 shall be of the same political party (H. Res. 97, 111th |