Order Code RS21165
Updated July 14, 2005
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 effective immediately, limited
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, exempted the Intelligence Committee chair from the limit.
A rules change adopted on January 4, 2005, pursuant to H.Res. 5, exempted the Rules
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 109th Congress, the Steering Committee
“interviewed” prospective candidates for committee chairmanships. Some of the new
chairs were the most senior member of the committee; others were not.
Congressional Research Service ˜ The Library of Congress

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The Steering Committee is comprised of party leaders, selected committee leaders,
class leaders, and regional representatives. The Steering Committee is reconstituted each
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.
Table 1 depicts the Republican Steering Committee at the beginning of the 109th
Congress.
Table 1. Republican Steering Committee
Designated
Member Serving in
Comments
Representative
109th Congress
Speaker of the House
Denny Hastert
Has 5 votes in Steering Committee
Majority Leader
Tom DeLay
Has 2 votes in Steering Committee
Majority Whip
Roy Blunt
Chief Deputy Whip
Eric Cantor
Republican Conference
Deborah Pryce
Chair
Republican Conference
Jack Kingston
Vice Chair
Republican Conference
John Dolittle
Secretary
Republican Policy Chair
John Shadegg
Replaced Christopher Cox
NRCC Chair
Tom Reynolds
Appropriations
Jerry Lewis
Committee Chair
Energy and Commerce
Joe Barton
Committee Chair
Rules Committee Chair
David Dreier
Ways and Means
Bill Thomas
Committee Chair
California
Ken Calvert
Representative
Florida Representative
Adam Putnam
Texas Representative
Lamar Smith

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Designated
Member Serving in
Comments
Representative
109th Congress
Region I
Doc Hastings
Washington, Oregon, Alaska, Idaho,
Representative
Montana, Wyoming, Nevada,
Minnesota, Utah, Nebraska
Region II
Marilyn Musgrave
Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado,
Representative
(replaced John
Kansas, Oklahoma
Shadegg)
Region III
Tom Latham
Iowa, Missouri, Illinois
Representative
Region IV
Dave Camp
Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana
Representative
Region V
John McHugh
New York, New Hampshire,
Representative
Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland
Region VI
Curt Weldon
Pennsylvania, New Jersey
Representative
Region VII
Ralph Regula
Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia
Representative
Region VIII
Hal Rogers
Tennessee, South Carolina, North
Representative
Carolina, Kentucky
Region IX
Spencer Bachus
Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi,
Representative
Arkansas, Georgia
Small State
Don Young
Alaska, Arkansas, Delaware, Montana,
Representative
Nevada, Oregon, South Dakota, West
Virginia, Wyoming, Idaho,
Mississippi, New Hampshire, New
Mexico, Utah
108th Class
John Carter
Representative
109th Class
Cathy McMorris
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 and Policy 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

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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. Table 2 depicts the Democratic
Steering and Policy Committee as constituted at the beginning of the 109th Congress.
Table 2. Democratic Steering Committee
Designated
Member Serving in
Comments
Representative
the 109th Congress
Steering Committee
Nancy Pelosi
Chair
Steering Committee
Rosa DeLauro
Co-Chair
Policy Committee
George Miller
Co-Chair
Vice-Chair
Jose Serrano
Vice-Chair/Chief
Maxine Waters
Deputy Whip
Vice-Chair/Chief
John Tanner
Deputy Whip
Whip
Steny Hoyer
Democratic Caucus
Robert Menendez
Chair
Democratic Caucus
James Clyburn
Vice-Chair
DCCC Chair
Rahm Emanuel
Senior Chief Deputy
John Lewis
Whip
Chief Deputy Whip
Joe Crowley
Chief Deputy Whip
Diana DeGette

Chief Deputy Whip
Ron Kind
Chief Deputy Whip
Ed Pastor
Chief Deputy Whip
Jan Schakowsky
Region I
Brad Sherman
Southern California: 23-53
Region II
Dennis Cardoza
Northern California: 1-22; Hawaii,
American Samoa, Guam, Alaska

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Designated
Member Serving in
Comments
Representative
the 109th Congress
Region III
Carolyn Kilpatrick
Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin
Region IV
Jerry Costello
Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Missouri,
Oklahoma
Region V
Brian Baird
Arizona, Iowa, Colorado, New
Mexico, Utah, Montana, Wyoming,
North Dakota, Oregon, Washington,
Nevada, Idaho
Region VI
Eddie Bernice
Texas
Johnson
Region VII
Jim Cooper
Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee,
Alabama, Arkansas, Virgin Islands,
Puerto Rico
Region VIII
G.K. Butterfield
Georgia, North Carolina, South
Carolina, Florida
Region IX
Dutch Ruppersberger
Maryland, New Jersey, West Virginia,
Virginia, D.C., Delaware
Region X
Sherrod Brown
Ohio, Pennsylvania, Kentucy
Region XI
Gregory Meeks
New York
Region XII
Mike Capuano
Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts,
Rhode Island, New Hampshire,
Vermont
Appropriations
David Obey
Committee Ranking
Member
Budget Committee
John Spratt
Ranking Member
Energy and Commerce
John Dingell
Committee Ranking
Member
Rules Committee
Louis Slaughter
Ranking Member
Ways and Means
Charles Rangel
Committee Ranking
Member
Organization Study and
Ben Cardin
Review (OSR) Chair
Freshman
Debbie Wasserman
Representative
Schultz

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Designated
Member Serving in
Comments
Representative
the 109th Congress
Members appointed by
Earl Blumenauer
Democratic Leader
Sheila Jackson Lee
John Larson
Zoe Lofgren
Nita Lowey
Carolyn McCart
Betty McCollum
Alan Mollohan
Jack Murtha
Donald Payne
Mike Ross
Loretta Sanchez
Hilda Solis
Mike Thompson
John Tierney

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