House Standing Committee Chairs and Ranking Minority Members: Rules Governing Selection Procedures

Order Code RS21165 Updated March 5, 20022004 CRS Report for Congress Received through the CRS Web House Standing Committee Chairs: Rules Governing Selection Procedures Judy Schneider Specialist on the Congress Government and Finance Division Summary House Rules, Republican Conference rules, and Democratic Caucus rules each detail aspects of the procedures followed in selecting standing committee chairs. This report summarizes those procedures. It will be updated if rules and procedures change. House Rules House Rule X, clause 5(c)(2), adopted in 1995 and effective immediately, limits committee (and subcommittee) chairs to three-terms of consecutive service. Service for less than a full session in a Congress is disregarded. (A four-term limitation was also placed on the speakership.)A rules change adopted on January 7, 2003, pursuant to H.Res. 5, exempts the Intelligence Committee chair from the limit. Republican Conference Procedures Republican Conference rules delineate procedures for the selection of standing committee chairs. The Speaker, with the Republicans in the majority, has the authority to nominate the chairs of the House Administration Committee and Rules Committee. His nominations for these two chairs are submitted directly to the full Republican Conference for ratification. If the conference rejects the Speaker’s nominee, the Speaker has the authority to submit another name to the conference. All other standing committee chairs are nominated by the Republican Steering Committee and ratified by the full Republican Conference. Pursuant to conference rules, the Member nominated to be chair does not need to be the Member with the longest continuous service on the committee. In the 107th108th Congress, the Steering Committee “interviewed” prospective candidates for committee chairmanships. All their recommendations were accepted by the full Republican Conference. Some of the new chairs were the most senior member of the committee; others were not. The Steering Committee is comprised of party leaders, selected committee leaders, class leaders, and regional representatives. The Steering Committee is reconstituted each Congressional Research Service ˜ The Library of Congress CRS-2 Congress. Regions are restructured to reflect as closely as possible an equal number of Republican members from each region. Each region elects its Steering Committee member. If members are elected from states that have four or more Republican members, a “small state” group is triggered to also elect a member to the Steering Committee; the small state group is composed of states that have three or fewer Republican members. The following table depicts the Republican Steering Committee as constituted at the beginning of the 107th Congress. Republican Steering Committee Designated Representative Member Serving in 107th108th Congress Comments Speaker of the House Denny Hastert Has 5 votes in Steering Committee Majority Leader Dick ArmeyTom De Lay Has 2 votes in Steering Committee Majority Whip Tom DeLay Chief Deputy Whip Roy Blunt Republican Conference Chair J.C. Watts Republican Conference Vice Chair Deborah Pryce Republican Conference Secretary Barbara CubinRoy Blunt - Chief Deputy Whip Eric Cantor - Republican Conference Chair Deborah Pryce - Republican Conference Vice Chair Jack Kingston - Republican Conference Secretary John Doolitle - Republican Policy Chair Christopher Cox - NRCC Chair Tom DavisReynolds - Appropriations Committee Chair Bill Young Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Joe Barton Billy Tauzin resigned as chair, February, 2004 Rules Committee Chair David Dreier - Ways and Means Committee Chair Bill Thomas - California Representative Ken Calvert Cotton South Representative Sonny Callahan Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, West Virginia East North Central Representative Dave Camp Indiana, Michigan, Illinois- Florida Representative Adam Putnam - Region I Representative Doc Hastings Washington, Oregon, Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Nevada, Minnesota, South Dakota, Utah CRS-3 Designated Representative Member Serving in 107th Congress Comments Great Plains Representative Tom Latham Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Missouri, South Dakota Mid-Atlantic Representative Ralph Regula Ohio, Pennsylvania, Delaware Atlantic Coast Representative John McHugh New York, Connecticut, New Hampshire, New Jersey Southeast Representative John Linder Georgia, Florida Tidewater South Representative Cass Ballenger North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Maryland West South Central Representative Joe Barton Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas West Representative Bob Stump Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wyoming108th Congress Comments Region II Representative John Shadegg Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska Region III Representative Lamar Smith Texas, Oklahoma Joe Barton served until February, 2004 when elected Energy and Commerce chair Region IV Representative Tom Latham Iowa, Missouri, Illinois Region V Representative Dave Camp Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana Region VI Representative John McHugh New York, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland Region VII Representative Curt Weldon Pennsylvania, New Jersey Region VIII Representative Ralph Regula Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia Region IX Representative Hal Rogers Tennessee, South Carolina, North Carolina, Kentucky Region X Representative Mac Collins Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, Georgia Small State Representative Don Young Alaska, Arkansas, Delaware, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, South Dakota, West Virginia, Wyoming, Idaho, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Utah 105th Class Representative Jerry Moran 106th107th Class Representative John Sweeney 107thCulberson - 108th Class Representative John CulbersonCarter - Democratic Caucus Procedures Democratic Caucus rules address selecting committee chairs even though Democrats are not currently in the majority. The Democratic leader nominates a chair/ranking member for the Committees on Rules and House Administration who must be approved by the entire Democratic Caucus. The Budget Committee chair/ranking member is selected selected from among members choosing to run for the position. Other chair/ranking member CRS-4 member nominations are made by the Democratic Steering Committee and voted on by the entire Democratic Caucus. In making selections, the Steering Committee considers, pursuant CRS-4 pursuant to caucus rules, “merit, length of service on the committee and degree of commitment to the Democratic agenda of the nominee, and the diversity of the Caucus.” The Steering Committee is reconstituted each Congress, and regions can be restructured to reflect equal Democratic representation among regions. The number of appointments made by the party leader can also change. The following table depicts the Democratic Steering Committee as constituted at the beginning of the 107th108th Congress. Democratic Steering Committee Designated Representative Member Serving in the 107th108th Congress Comments Steering Committee Chair Dick GephardtNancy Pelosi - Steering Committee Co-Chair Steny HoyerRosa De Lauro - Steering Committee Vice-Chair Jose Serrano Vice-Chair, Deputy Whip Maxine Waters Whip David Bonior (replaced by Nancy Pelosi on 1/15/02)- Steering Committee Vice-Chair Maxine Waters - Steering Committee Vice-Chair John Tanner - Whip Steny Hoyer - Democratic Caucus Chair Martin FrostRobert Menendez - Democratic Caucus Vice-Chair Robert MenendezJames Clyburn - Assistant to the Democratic Leader Rosa DeLauro DCCC Chair Nita Lowey Deputy Whip Chet Edwards Deputy Whip John Lewis Deputy Whip Ed Pastor Region I Brad Sherman CommentsJohn Spratt - DCCC Chair Robert Matsui - Senior Chief Deputy Whip John Lewis - Chief Deputy Whip Jan Schakowsky - Chief Deputy Whip Ron Kind - Chief Deputy Whip Baron Hill - CRS-5 Designated Representative Member Serving in the 108th Congress Comments Chief Deputy Whip Joe Crowley - Chief Deputy Whip Max Sandlin - Chief Deputy Whip Maxine Waters - Chief Deputy Whip Ed Pastor - Region I Tom Udall Southern California: 22, 24, 26, 27, 28-36, 42, 46, 49, 50; Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado CRS-5 Designated Representative Member Serving in the 107th Congress Comments Region II Mike Thompson Northern California: 1, 5-10, 12-18, 20; Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam Region III Collin PetersonCarolyn Kilpatrick Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin Region IV William LipinskiJerry Costello Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky Region V Darlene HooleyEarl Pomeroy Arkansas, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, North Dakota, Oregon, Washington, Oklahoma Region VI Max SandlinJim Turner Texas Region VII Bart GordonChris John Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama Region VIII Jim Davis Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida Region IX Nick Rahall Maryland, New Jersey, West Virginia, Virginia Region X John MurthaSherrod Brown Ohio, Pennsylvania Region XI Elliot EngelJoe Crowley New York Region XII William DelahuntJohn Tierney Connecticut, District of Columbia, Maine, Massachusetts, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, Virgin Islands Appropriations Committee Ranking Member David Obey - Budget Committee Ranking Member John Spratt Also serves by virtue of being Assistant to the Democratic Leader CRS-6 Designated Representative Member Serving in the 108th Congress Comments Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Member John Dingell - Rules Committee Ranking Member Martin Frost - Ways and Means Committee Ranking Member Charles Rangel also serves by virtue of being Caucus Chair CRS-6 Designated Representative Member Serving in the 107th Congress- Organization Study and Review (OSR) Chair Ben Cardin 16 Members appointed by Democratic Leader Lucille RoybalAllard, Mike Capuano, James Clyburn, Elijah Cummings, Gene Green, Steve Israel, William Jefferson, Carolyn Kilpatrick, Karen McCarthy, Frank Pallone, Silvestre Reyes, Tim Roemer, Bennie Thompson, Peter Visclosky, Lynn Woolsey Comments One vacancy created when Nancy Pelosi became whip- Members appointed by Democratic Leader Earl Blumenauer, Michael Capuano, Sheila Jackson-Lee, John Larson, Zoe Lofgren, Nita Lowey, Carolyn McCarthy, Betty McCollum, Alan Mollohan, John Murtha, Donald Payne, Collin Peterson, Ciro Rodriquez, Mike Ross, Dutch Ruppersberger, Hilda Solis -