Order Code RS21165
Updated December 27, 2006
House Standing Committee Chairs and
Ranking Minority Members:
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 and
ranking minority members. This report summarizes those procedures and lists
membership on each party’s steering committee. The report will be updated if rules or
procedures change.
House Rules
House Rule X, clause 5(c)(2), adopted in 1995 and 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 and ranking minority members. The Speaker, with the Republicans in
the majority, has the authority to nominate the chairs of the House Administration
Committee and Rules Committee. In the minority, this is performed by the minority
leader. He names the ranking minority members on these committees. The Speaker’s or
minority leader’s nominations for these two positions are submitted directly to the full
Republican Conference for ratification. If the conference rejects the leader’s nominee,
the Speaker or minority leader has the authority to submit another name to the conference.

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CRS-2
All other standing committee chairs or ranking minority members are nominated by
the Republican Steering Committee and ratified by the full Republican Conference.
Pursuant to conference rules, the Member nominated to be chair or ranking minority
member does not need to be the Member with the longest continuous service on the
committee. In the 110th Congress, the Steering Committee “interviewed” prospective
candidates for ranking slots. Some of the new ranking members were the most senior
members of the committee, others were not.
The Steering Committee is composed 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 Steering Committee 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 current membership of the Republican Steering
Committee.
Table 1. Republican Steering Committee
Designated
Member Serving in
Comments
Representative
110th Congress
Republican Leader
John Boehner
Has 5 votes in Steering Committee
Minority Whip
Roy Blunt
Has 2 votes
Chief Deputy Whip
Eric Cantor
Republican Conference
Adam Putnam
Chair
Republican Conference
Kay Granger
Vice Chair
Republican Conference
John Carter
Secretary
Republican Policy Chair
Thad McCotter
NRCC Chair
Tom Cole
Appropriations
Jerry Lewis
Committee ranking
member
Energy and Commerce
Joe Barton
Committee ranking
member
Rules Committee
David Dreier
ranking member

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CRS-3
Designated
Member Serving in
Comments
Representative
110th Congress
Ways and Means
Jim McCrery
Committee ranking
member
California
Ken Calvert
Representative
Texas Representative
Lamar Smith
Region I
Doc Hastings
Washington, Oregon, Alaska, Idaho,
Representative
Montana, Nevada, Utah, Arizona,
New Mexico
Region II
Lee Terry
Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma,
Representative
Wyoming, Nebraska, Wisconsin,
Minnesota
Region III
Ray LaHood
Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Arkansas
Representative
Region IV
Dave Camp
Michigan, Pennsylvania, West
Representative
Virginia
Region V
John McHugh
New York, New Jersey, Connecticut,
Representative
Delaware, Maryland, Puerto Rico
Region VI
Bill Young
Florida, South Carolina
Representative
Region VII
Ralph Regula
Ohio, Indiana, Tennessee
Representative
Region VIII
Hal Rogers
North Carolina, Kentucky, Virginia
Representative
Region IX
John Linder
Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi,
Representative
Georgia
Small State
Don Young
Alaska, Arkansas, Delaware,
Representative
Montana, Nevada, Oregon, South
Dakota, West Virginia, Wyoming,
Idaho, Mississippi, New Hampshire,
New Mexico, Utah, Connecticut
109th Class
Cathy McMorris
Representative
110th Class
Kevin McCarthy
Representative

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CRS-4
Democratic Caucus Procedures
Democratic Caucus rules address selecting committee chairs and ranking minority
members. 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 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 110th Congress.
Table 2. Democratic Steering Committee
Designated
Member Serving in
Comments
Representative
the 110th Congress
Steering Committee
Nancy Pelosi
Chair
Steering Committee
Rosa DeLauro
Co-Chair
Policy Committee
George Miller
Co-Chair
Vice-Chair
Marion Berry
Vice-Chair
Hilda Solis
Whip
James Clyburn
Democratic Caucus
Rahm Emanuel
Chair
Democratic Caucus
John Larson
Vice-Chair
DCCC Chair
Chris Van Hollen
Senior Chief Deputy
John Lewis
Whip
Chief Deputy Whip
Joe Crowley
Chief Deputy Whip
Diana DeGette

Chief Deputy Whip
G.K. Butterfield
Chief Deputy Whip
Ed Pastor

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CRS-5
Designated
Member Serving in
Comments
Representative
the 110th Congress
Chief Deputy Whip
John Tanner
Chief Deputy Whip
Maxine Waters
Chief Deputy Whip
Debbie Wasserman
Schultz
Chief Deputy Whip
Jan Schakowsky
Region I
Brad Sherman
Southern California: 23-53
Region II
Jerry McNerney
Northern California: 1-22; Hawaii,
American Samoa, Guam, Alaska
Region III
Tammy Baldwin
Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin
Region IV
Jan Schakowsky
Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Missouri,
Oklahoma
Region V
Tom Udall
Arizona, Iowa, Colorado, New
Mexico, Utah, Montana, Wyoming,
North Dakota, Oregon, Washington,
Nevada, Idaho
Region VI
Gene Green
Texas
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
Robert Brady
Ohio, Pennsylvania, Kentucky
Region XI
Gregory Meeks
New York
Region XII
John Tierney
Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts,
Rhode Island, New Hampshire,
Vermont
Appropriations
David Obey
Committee Chair
Budget Committee
John Spratt
Chair
Energy and
John Dingell
Commerce
Committee Chair

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CRS-6
Designated
Member Serving in
Comments
Representative
the 110th Congress
Financial Services
Barney Frank
Committee Chair
Rules Committee
Louis Slaughter
Chair
Ways and Means
Charles Rangel
Committee Chair
Organization Study
Mike Capuano
and Review (OSR)
Chair
Freshman
Kathy Castor
Representative
Members appointed
Dennis Cardoza
by Democratic Leader
Jerry Costello
Artur Davis
Lloyd Doggett
Kirsten Gillibrand
Rush Holt
Doris Matsui
Kendrick Meek
Charlie Melancon
Tim Ryan
Loretta Sanchez
Gene Taylor
Mike Thompson
Nydia Velazquez

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