Order Code RS21165
Updated March 5, 2004
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 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 108th 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
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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 “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.
Republican Steering Committee
Designated
Member Serving
Comments
Representative
in 108th Congress
Speaker of the House
Denny Hastert
Has 5 votes in Steering Committee
Majority Leader
Tom De Lay
Has 2 votes in Steering Committee
Majority Whip
Roy Blunt
-
Chief Deputy Whip
Eric Cantor
-
Republican
Deborah Pryce
-
Conference Chair
Republican
Jack Kingston
-
Conference Vice Chair
Republican
John Doolitle
-
Conference Secretary
Republican Policy
Christopher Cox
-
Chair
NRCC Chair
Tom Reynolds
-
Appropriations
Bill Young
Committee Chair
Energy and Commerce
Joe Barton
Billy Tauzin resigned as chair,
Committee Chair
February, 2004
Rules Committee
David Dreier
-
Chair
Ways and Means
Bill Thomas
-
Committee Chair
California
Ken Calvert
-
Representative
Florida Representative
Adam Putnam
-
Region I
Doc Hastings
Washington, Oregon, Alaska,
Representative
Idaho, Montana, Wyoming,
Nevada, Minnesota, South Dakota,
Utah

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Designated
Member Serving
Comments
Representative
in 108th Congress
Region II
John Shadegg
Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado,
Representative
Kansas, Nebraska
Region III
Lamar Smith
Texas, Oklahoma
Representative
Joe Barton served until February,
2004 when elected Energy and
Commerce chair
Region IV
Tom Latham
Iowa, Missouri, Illinois
Representative
Region V
Dave Camp
Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana
Representative
Region VI
John McHugh
New York, New Hampshire,
Representative
Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland
Region VII
Curt Weldon
Pennsylvania, New Jersey
Representative
Region VIII
Ralph Regula
Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia
Representative
Region IX
Hal Rogers
Tennessee, South Carolina, North
Representative
Carolina, Kentucky
Region X
Mac Collins
Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi,
Representative
Arkansas, Georgia
Small State
Don Young
Alaska, Arkansas, Delaware,
Representative
Montana, Nevada, Oregon, South
Dakota, West Virginia, Wyoming,
Idaho, Mississippi, New
Hampshire, New Mexico, Utah
107th Class
John Culberson
-
Representative
108th Class
John Carter
-
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

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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 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 108th Congress.
Democratic Steering Committee
Designated
Member Serving
Comments
Representative
in the 108th
Congress
Steering Committee
Nancy Pelosi
-
Chair
Steering Committee
Rosa De Lauro
-
Co-Chair
Steering Committee
Jose Serrano
-
Vice-Chair
Steering Committee
Maxine Waters
-
Vice-Chair
Steering Committee
John Tanner
-
Vice-Chair
Whip
Steny Hoyer
-
Democratic Caucus
Robert Menendez
-
Chair
Democratic Caucus
James Clyburn
-
Vice-Chair
Assistant to the
John Spratt
-
Democratic Leader
DCCC Chair
Robert Matsui
-
Senior Chief Deputy
John Lewis
-
Whip
Chief Deputy Whip
Jan Schakowsky
-
Chief Deputy Whip
Ron Kind
-
Chief Deputy Whip
Baron Hill
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Designated
Member Serving
Comments
Representative
in the 108th
Congress
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
Region II
Mike Thompson
Northern California: 1, 5-10, 12-18,
20; Hawaii, American Samoa,
Guam
Region III
Carolyn Kilpatrick
Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin
Region IV
Jerry Costello
Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky
Region V
Earl Pomeroy
Arkansas, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas,
North Dakota, Oregon, Washington,
Oklahoma
Region VI
Jim Turner
Texas
Region VII
Chris 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
Sherrod Brown
Ohio, Pennsylvania
Region XI
Joe Crowley
New York
Region XII
John Tierney
Connecticut, District of Columbia,
Maine, Massachusetts, Puerto Rico,
Rhode Island, Virgin Islands
Appropriations
David Obey
-
Committee Ranking
Member
Budget Committee
John Spratt
Also serves by virtue of being
Ranking Member
Assistant to the Democratic Leader

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Designated
Member Serving
Comments
Representative
in the 108th
Congress
Energy and Commerce
John Dingell
-
Committee Ranking
Member
Rules Committee
Martin Frost
-
Ranking Member
Ways and Means
Charles Rangel
-
Committee Ranking
Member
Organization Study
Ben Cardin
-
and Review (OSR)
Chair
Members appointed
Earl Blumenauer,
-
by Democratic Leader
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

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