Order Code RS22616
March 5, 2007
House Committee Funding, 110th Congress
R. Eric Petersen
Analyst in American National Government
Government and Finance Division
Summary
Pursuant to House Rule X, clause 6, the House Administration Committee reports
an omnibus, biennial “primary expense resolution” to cover the expenses of each
standing and select committee (except the Appropriations Committee). The resolution
is based in part on committee requests for funds to cover necessary expenses for the two
years of a Congress. On March 1, 2007, the Committee on House Administration
reported H.Res. 202, providing for the expenses of certain committees of the House of
Representatives in the 110th Congress.
This report summarizes requests from individual committees and funding levels
reported by the Committee on House Administration, and compares 110th Congress-
reported levels to authorizations for House committees in the 109th Congress. CRS
Report RL32794, House Committee Funding Requests and Authorizations, 104th - 109th
Congresses, by R. Eric Petersen, provides historical and analytical data on funding
requests and authorizations for House committees since 1995.
Pursuant to House Rule X, clause 6, the House Administration Committee reports
an omnibus, biennial “primary expense resolution” to cover the expenses of each standing
and select committee (except the Appropriations Committee1). The resolution is based
in part on committee requests for funds to cover their necessary expenses for the two
years of a Congress.
On March 1, 2007, the Committee on House Administration met to mark up H.Res.
202, providing for the expenses of certain committees of the House of Representatives in
the 110th Congress. Representative Juanita Millender-McDonald, who is chairwoman of
the panel, offered an amendment in the nature of a substitute to the measure, which was
adopted by voice vote. The panel then reported H.Res. 202, as amended, to the House by
voice vote.
1 P.L. 79-601, Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946, Section 202(b), 80 Stat. 834 grants the
Committee on Appropriations authorization to appropriate funds for its own activities.

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CRS-2
The Committee on House Administration held a hearing on committee expense
requests on February 28, 2007. Representative Millender-McDonald indicated that,
under the provisions of a year-long continuing resolution funding FY2007 House
operations at FY2006 levels, plus an increase for inflation, most panel budgets would
likely receive authorizations for increases of not more than 2.4% over funding levels
authorized for the second session of the 109th Congress. She said that if more funding
becomes available in FY2008, the committee might revisit authorizations for the second
session.2
During the hearings the chairwoman and the ranking minority member,
Representative Vernon Ehlers, reiterated the longstanding expectation that committee
resources would reflect a distribution of 2/3 of committee staff to the majority, and 1/3
to the minority, and a similar distribution of non-staff resources.3 In their testimony, most
committee chairs and ranking members acknowledged mutually satisfactory arrangements
had been reached regarding the distribution of committee staff and other expenses.4
2 Oral comments of Representative Juanita Millender-McDonald at the hearing of the Committee
on House Administration on committee funding, Feb. 28, 2007.
3 Between 1995 and 2005, House majority leadership encouraged its committee leaders to provide
the minority with one-third of committee staff and resources authorized in the biennial funding
resolutions. Statements made by leaders of the House Administration Committee at the
beginning of its committee funding review for the 107th Congress, and reaffirmed at the beginning
of the 108th Congress, indicated a consensus that all House committees should provide at least
one-third minority staffing in those Congresses. In the 109th Congress, the 2/3-1/3 distribution
of staff was reaffirmed by the chair and ranking member of the Committee on House
Administration, but some testimony by ranking members urged provision of 1/3 of non-staff
resources to the minority. In addition, some questions regarding the extent of control the
minority might exercise over those resources were raised. In its report to accompany H.Res. 224
(109th Congress),the Committee on House Administration said that it “feels it is the prerogative
of the Chairman to maintain control over the committee budget, as the chairman is ultimately
responsible for all expenditures obligated by the committee.” In the course of the Feb 28, 2007,
hearings on committee funding, Chairwoman Millender-McDonald orally affirmed the policy
establishing the chair as the official with ultimate responsibility for committee resources.
See Gabriel Kahn, “Panels Ask Oversight to Slash Own Budgets,” Roll Call, Feb. 27, 1995;
Juliet Eilperin and Gabriel Kahn, “House’s Chief Officer Unveils ‘Dream Team, Roll Call, Mar.
9, 1995, retrieved through nexis.com; U.S. House, Committee on House Administration, Hearing
on Committee Funding Requests, 108th Cong. 1st sess. (Washington: GPO, 2003), p. 2-3, available
at [http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname =108_house_hearings&docid
=f:89055.pdf]; U.S. House, Committee on House Administration, Committee Funding, 109th
Cong. 1st sess. (Washington: GPO, 2005), pp. 4-6, 41-47, and 64-75, available at
[http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=109_house_hearings&docid=f:2
0927.pdf]; U.S. House, Providing for the Expenses of Certain Committees of the House of
Representatives in the One Hundred Ninth Congress, H.Rept. 109-54, 109th Cong., 1st sess. Apr.
26, 2005 (Washington: GPO, 2005), quote, p. 7, available at [http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-
bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=109_cong_reports&docid=f:hr054.109.pdf]].
4 In his written opening statement, Representative Ehlers noted that “adjustments to the 2/3-1/3
budget allocation have been made in the past, for instance through the use of shared staff, or a
centrally managed budget for non-personnel expenditures.” See Committee on House
Administration, Republican Office, “Opening Statement of Ranking Member Vernon J. Ehlers,”
(continued...)

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CRS-3
Table 1 summarizes requests from individual committees and funding levels
reported by the Committee on House Administration for the 110th Congress. Table 2
compares levels reported by the House Administration Committee for the 110th Congress
to levels authorized for House committees in the 109th Congress.5 CRS Report RL32794,
House Committee Funding Requests and Authorizations, 104th - 109th Congresses, by R.
Eric Petersen, provides historical and analytical data on funding requests and
authorizations for House committees since 1995.
4 (...continued)
Feb. 28, 2007. In their testimony, some committee chairs and ranking members indicated that
they had reached agreement for a strict 2/3-1/3 distribution of resources while others
acknowledged mutually agreeable alternatives that provided the minority with resources for staff
and other expenses.
5 In the 109th Congress, the Committee on Education and Labor was known as the Committee
on Education and the Workforce; the Committee on Foreign Affairs was known as the Committee
on International Relations; the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform was known as
the Committee on Government Reform; and the Committee on Science and Technology was
known as the Committee on Science.

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Table 1. House Committee Funding Requests, and Reported Levels, 110th Congress
Difference Between
Requested
Reported
Requested & Reported
Committee
% of
Total
1st Session
2nd Session
Total
1st Session
2nd Session
Amount
Request
Agriculture
$12,398,755
$5,954,462
$6,444,293
$11,995,306
$5,910,765
$6,084,541
-$403,449
-3.25%
Armed Services
$15,469,004
$6,883,959
$8,585,045
$14,618,946
$7,203,581
$7,415,366
-$850,058
-5.50%
Budget
$12,026,478
$6,013,239
$6,013,239
$12,520,064
$6,169,343
$6,350,721
$493,586
4.10%
Education and Labor
$16,334,250
$8,025,500
$8,308,750
$16,213,840
$7,989,475
$8,224,365
-$120,410
-0.74%
Energy and Commerce
$22,474,614
$11,013,668
$11,460,946
$21,056,249
$10,375,603
$10,680,646
-$1,418,365
-6.31%
Financial Services
$16,575,710
$8,029,517
$8,546,193
$16,189,138
$7,977,303
$8,211,835
-$386,572
-2.33%
Foreign Affairs
$17,953,805
$8,762,228
$9,191,577
$17,391,504
$8,569,776
$8,821,728
-$562,301
-3.13%
Homeland Security
$16,511,877
$8,132,028
$8,379,849
$16,448,403
$8,105,057
$8,343,346
-$63,474
-0.38%
House Administration
$10,214,461
$5,033,242
$5,181,219
$10,214,461
$5,033,242
$5,181,219
$0
0.00%
Judiciary
$16,657,587
$8,165,484
$8,492,103
$16,347,324
$8,055,250
$8,292,074
-$310,263
-1.86%
Natural Resources
$15,581,951
$7,638,213
$7,943,738
$15,288,192
$7,533,355
$7,754,836
-$293,759
-1.89%
Oversight and Government Reform
$22,876,214
$10,790,667
$12,085,547
$21,602,950
$10,644,994
$10,957,956
-$1,273,264
-5.57%
Rules
$6,781,540
$3,357,198
$3,424,342
$6,852,908
$3,376,815
$3,476,093
$71,368
1.05%
Science and Technology
$13,209,820
$6,475,402
$6,734,418
$12,963,775
$6,387,984
$6,575,791
-$246,045
-1.86%
Small Business
$6,257,410
$3,009,086
$3,248,324
$5,965,945
$2,939,758
$3,026,187
-$291,465
-4.66%
Standards of Official Conduct
$6,119,301
$2,996,561
$3,122,740
$4,994,181
$2,460,915
$2,533,266
-$1,125,120
-18.39%
Transportation and Infrastructure
$19,724,511
$9,528,749
$10,195,762
$19,261,795
$9,491,374
$9,770,421
-$462,716
-2.35%
Veterans’ Affairs
$6,933,319
$3,398,686
$3,534,633
$7,076,347
$3,486,916
$3,589,431
$143,028
2.06%
Ways and Means
$20,059,514
$9,785,129
$10,274,385
$19,040,609
$9,382,384
$9,658,226
-$1,018,905
-5.08%
Permanent Select Intelligence
$10,409,000
$5,077,000
$5,332,000
$10,467,084
$5,157,724
$5,309,361
$58,086
0.56%
Source: Data taken from individual committee funding resolutions introduced in the House for the 110th Congress and from H.Res. 202, as reported. U.S. House, Providing for the
Expenses of Certain Committees of the House of Representatives in the One Hundred Tenth Congress, H.Rept. 110-29, 110th Cong., 1st sess., Mar. 3, 2007 (Washington: GPO, 2007),
p. 5. As shown on p. 5 of the committee report, the totals reported for individual committees do not always exactly equal the sum of the amounts reported for each session.

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CRS-5
Table 2. House Committee Funding Reported to the House, 110th Congress, and
Amounts Authorized by the House, 109th Congress, Nominal Dollars
Difference between
109th Congress - Approved
110th Congress - Reported
109th &110th Cong
Committee
Approved
1st Session
2nd Session
Reported
1st Session
2nd Session
Amount
%
Agriculture
$11,257,009 $5,495,805 $5,761,204 $11,995,306
$5,910,765
$6,084,541
$738,297
6.56%
Armed Services
$12,826,208
$6,292,249
$6,533,959
$14,618,946
$7,203,581
$7,415,366
$1,792,738
13.98%
Budget
$12,026,478 $6,013,239 $6,013,239 $12,520,064
$6,169,343
$6,350,721
$493,586
4.10%
Education and Labor
$15,493,286
$7,705,970
$7,787,316
$16,213,840
$7,989,475
$8,224,365
$720,554
4.65%
Energy and Commerce
$19,925,687
$9,812,619
$10,113,068
$21,056,249
$10,375,603
$10,680,646
$1,130,562
5.67%
Financial Services
$15,203,100
$7,427,648
$7,775,452
$16,189,138
$7,977,303
$8,211,835
$986,038
6.49%
Foreign Affairs
$16,299,018
$7,946,084
$8,352,934
$17,391,504
$8,569,776
$8,821,728
$1,092,486
6.70%
Homeland Security
$14,000,000
$6,100,026
$7,899,974
$16,448,403
$8,105,057
$8,343,346
$2,448,403
17.49%
House Administration
$9,554,568
$4,648,683
$4,905,885
$10,214,461
$5,033,242
$5,181,219
$659,893
6.91%
Judiciary
$15,312,992 $7,461,565 $7,851,427 $16,347,324
$8,055,250
$8,292,074
$1,034,332
6.75%
Natural Resources
$14,520,962
$7,178,224
$7,342,738
$15,288,192
$7,533,355
$7,754,836
$767,230
5.28%
Oversight and Government Reform
$20,497,085
$10,121,443
$10,375,642
$21,602,950
$10,644,994
$10,957,956
$1,105,865
5.40%
Rules
$6,365,600 $3,074,229 $3,291,371 $6,852,908
$3,376,815
$3,476,093
$487,308
7.66%
Science and Technology
$12,327,996
$6,101,648
$6,226,348
$12,963,775
$6,387,984
$6,575,791
$635,779
5.16%
Small Business
$5,586,973
$2,721,600
$2,865,373
$5,965,945
$2,939,758
$3,026,187
$378,972
6.78%
Standards of Official Conduct
$4,290,536
$1,891,890
$2,398,646
$4,994,181
$2,460,915
$2,533,266
$703,645
16.40%
Transportation and Infrastructure
$18,108,082 $8,856,869 $9,251,213 $19,261,795
$9,491,374
$9,770,421
$1,153,713
6.37%
Veterans’ Affairs
$6,474,418
$3,075,732
$3,398,686
$7,076,347
$3,486,916
$3,589,431
$601,929
9.30%
Ways and Means
$17,819,494
$8,674,514
$9,144,980
$19,040,610
$9,382,384
$9,658,226
$1,221,116
6.85%
Permanent Select Intelligence
$9,527,870
$4,500,653
$5,027,217
$10,467,084
$5,157,724
$5,309,361
$939,214
9.86%
Source: Data taken from H.Res. 224, 109th Congress, adopted by the House; and H.Res. 202, 110th Congress, as reported by the Committee on House Administration. U.S. House,
Providing for the Expenses of Certain Committees of the House of Representatives in the One Hundred Tenth Congress, H.Rept. 110-29, 110th Cong., 1st sess., Mar. 3, 2007 (Washington:
GPO, 2007), p. 5. As shown on p. 5 of the committee report, the totals reported for individual committees do not always exactly equal the sum of the amounts reported for each session.
In the 109th Congress, the Committee on Education and Labor was known as the Committee on Education and the Workforce; the Committee on Foreign Affairs was known as the
Committee on International Relations; the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform was known as the Committee on Government Reform; and the Committee on Science
and Technology was known as the Committee on Science.

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