Order Code 98-544 GOV
Updated March 9, 2001
CRS Report for Congress
Received through the CRS Web
Subcommittees in the House of
Representatives
Judy Schneider
Specialist on the Congress
Government and Finance Division
Subcommittees are entities created by full committees to assist them in managing their
work. Pursuant to Rule XI, clause 1(a)(A), "The Rules of the House are the rules of its
committees and subcommittees so far as applicable...." According to clause 1(a)(2) of the
same rule, "each subcommittee of a committee is a part of that committee, and is subject
to the authority and direction of that committee and to its rules, so far as applicable."
Service on subcommittees enables members to develop expertise in specialized fields.
Subcommittees diffuse the legislative process. For the most part, they are independent,
autonomous units with written jurisdictions, and, pursuant to longstanding practice, most
bills are referred by a full committee to them. Prior to the 104th Congress, subcommittees
controlled their own, autonomous staffs.
Creation
House Rule X, clause 5(d) prohibits committees from having more than five
subcommittees, except for two committees: Appropriations continues to have 13 and
Government Reform could have seven subcommittees. Some committees, such as House
Administration, have created no subcommittees. House rules further limit committees
from creating “panels,” by stating that any subunit of a full committee that lasts longer than
six months counts against the subcommittee limit.
Democratic Caucus Rule 26 addresses creation of subcommittees "when the
Democratic party is the majority party." Essentially, each committee caucus would
establish the number of subcommittees, fix their jurisdiction, and determine their size,
although no subcommittee could be more than 60% of the size of the full committee.
Jurisdiction and Bill Referral
Subcommittee jurisdictions are not enumerated in House rules. Their jurisdictions
are determined by each committee, and several panels list the jurisdictions in their
committee rules. Pursuant to jurisdiction and by practice, most legislation is referred by
a committee to a subcommittee prior to consideration by the full committee. However,
some committees retain specific legislation at the full-committee level. For example, the
Congressional Research Service ˜ The Library of Congress

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Ways and Means Committee keeps legislation amending the income tax sections of the
Internal Revenue Code at full committee, and the Resources Committee retains matters
relating to Native Americans for the full committee.
Staff and Funding
In the 104th Congress, the new Republican majority adopted procedures whereby all
subcommittee staff would be controlled by the full-committee chair. Previously,
subcommittee chairs had the authority to hire one staffer. The rule, House Rule X, clause
6(d), requires the committee chair “to ensure that sufficient staff is made available to each
subcommittee to carry out its responsibilities.” Relatedly, associate staff for the
Appropriations Committee was reduced from two staffers per member to one; continuing
members of the Budget Committee (funding for new Budget members to hire associates
was withheld) and all Rules Committee members were entitled to retain their associate
staff.
Chairman and Ranking Member Selection
Under Republican Conference rules, each committee chairman determines and
provides to other Republican members of the committee the method for selecting
subcommittee chairs. However, a majority of the Republican members of the full
committee can disapprove the selection procedure. Under House rules, subcommittee
chairs are limited to six years of service. House Republicans also limit members to a single
committee or subcommittee chairmanship, although the Committee on Standards of
Official Conduct and House Administration Committee are exempt. Finally, Republican
Conference rules prohibit full-committee chairs from leading a subcommittee of the
committee they head.
House Democrats allow each committee member to bid, in order of seniority, for
available subcommittee leadership slots. For all committees, except Appropriations, this
is done by full-committee seniority; for Appropriations, it is done by subcommittee
seniority. Caucus rules generally limit members to rank on only one full committee or one
subcommittee with legislative jurisdiction. Some subcommittee leaders require full
Democratic Caucus approval.
Subcommittee Assignments
Under House Rule X, clause 5(b)(2)(A), Members generally are limited to service on
four subcommittees. However, there are some exceptions. House rules are silent on
subcommittee assignment procedures; they are traditionally governed by party rules and
practices.
Republicans generally leave assignment decisions to the committee leader to
determine, although most employ a bidding approach that allows members to select
subcommittee slots. Democrats formally provide for such a bidding process.

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