Order Code RS21165
March 5, 2002
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.)
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 Speakerâ€™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 107th Congress, the Steering Committee
â€œinterviewedâ€ 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
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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 â€œsmall stateâ€ 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
Member Serving
Comments
Representative
in 107th Congress
Speaker of the House
Denny Hastert
Has 5 votes in Steering Committee
Majority Leader
Dick Armey
Has 2 votes in Steering Committee
Majority Whip
Tom DeLay
Chief Deputy Whip
Roy Blunt
Republican Conference
J.C. Watts
Chair
Republican Conference
Deborah Pryce
Vice Chair
Republican Conference
Barbara Cubin
Secretary
Republican Policy
Christopher Cox
Chair
NRCC Chair
Tom Davis
Appropriations
Bill Young
Committee Chair
Rules Committee
David Dreier
Chair
Ways and Means
Bill Thomas
Committee Chair
California
Ken Calvert
Representative
Cotton South
Sonny Callahan
Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama,
Representative
Arkansas, Mississippi, West
Virginia
East North Central
Dave Camp
Indiana, Michigan, Illinois
Representative

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Designated
Member Serving
Comments
Representative
in 107th Congress
Great Plains
Tom Latham
Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota,
Representative
Nebraska, Wisconsin, Missouri,
South Dakota
Mid-Atlantic
Ralph Regula
Ohio, Pennsylvania, Delaware
Representative
Atlantic Coast
John McHugh
New York, Connecticut, New
Representative
Hampshire, New Jersey
Southeast
John Linder
Georgia, Florida
Representative
Tidewater South
Cass Ballenger
North Carolina, South Carolina,
Representative
Virginia, Maryland
West South Central
Joe Barton
Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas
Representative
West Representative
Bob Stump
Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho,
Montana, New Mexico, Nevada,
Oregon, Utah, Washington,
Wyoming
Small State
Don Young
Alaska, Arkansas, Delaware,
Representative
Montana, Nevada, Oregon, South
Dakota, West Virginia, Wyoming,
Idaho, Mississippi, New Hampshire,
New Mexico, Utah
105th Class
Jerry Moran
Representative
106th Class
John Sweeney
Representative
107th Class
John Culberson
Representative
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
from among members choosing to run for the position. Other chair/ranking 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

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to caucus rules, â€œmerit, length of service on the committee and degree of commitment to
the Democratic agenda of the nominee, and the diversity of the Caucus.â€ 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 107th Congress.
Democratic Steering Committee
Designated
Member Serving
Comments
Representative
in the 107th
Congress
Steering Committee
Dick Gephardt
Chair
Steering Committee
Steny Hoyer
Co-Chair
Steering Committee
Jose Serrano
Vice-Chair
Vice-Chair, Deputy
Maxine Waters
Whip
Whip
David Bonior
(replaced by Nancy
Pelosi on 1/15/02)
Democratic Caucus
Martin Frost
Chair
Democratic Caucus
Robert Menendez
Vice-Chair
Assistant to the
Rosa DeLauro
Democratic Leader
DCCC Chair
Nita Lowey
Deputy Whip
Chet Edwards
Deputy Whip
John Lewis
Deputy Whip
Ed Pastor
Region I
Brad Sherman
Southern California: 22, 24, 26, 27,
28-36, 42, 46, 49, 50; Nevada,
Utah, Arizona, New Mexico,
Colorado

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Designated
Member Serving
Comments
Representative
in the 107th
Congress
Region II
Mike Thompson
Northern California: 1, 5-10, 12-18,
20; Hawaii, American Samoa,
Guam
Region III
Collin Peterson
Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin
Region IV
William Lipinski
Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky
Region V
Darlene Hooley
Arkansas, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas,
North Dakota, Oregon,
Washington, Oklahoma
Region VI
Max Sandlin
Texas
Region VII
Bart Gordon
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 Murtha
Ohio, Pennsylvania
Region XI
Elliot Engel
New York
Region XII
William Delahunt
Connecticut, District of Columbia,
Maine, Massachusetts, Puerto Rico,
Rhode Island, Virgin Islands
Appropriations
David Obey
Committee Ranking
Member
Budget Committee
John Spratt
Ranking Member
Energy and Commerce
John Dingell
Committee Ranking
Member
Rules Committee
Martin Frost
also serves by virtue of being
Ranking Member
Caucus Chair
Ways and Means
Charles Rangel
Committee Ranking
Member

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Designated
Member Serving
Comments
Representative
in the 107th
Congress
Organization Study
Ben Cardin
and Review (OSR)
Chair
16 Members appointed
Lucille Roybal-
One vacancy created when Nancy
by Democratic Leader
Allard, Mike
Pelosi became whip
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