History and Authority of the Joint Economic
Committee
Jessica Tollestrup
Analyst on Congress and the Legislative Process
December 6, 2010
Congressional Research Service
7-5700
www.crs.gov
R41519
CRS Report for Congress
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repared for Members and Committees of Congress
History and Authority of the Joint Economic Committee
oint committees are composed of members from both the House and the Senate. The work of
these committees generally involves conducting studies and overseeing aspects of
J congressional operations. Although some joint committees possess the power to hold
hearings and call witnesses, none are able to report legislation.1
History and Authority of the Joint Economic
Committee
The Joint Economic Committee was first established by the Employment Act of 1946.2 Originally
entitled the Joint Committee on the Economic Report, this committee was vested with three
primary functions. First, the committee was to monitor the subjects included in the President’s
yearly Economic Report. Second, the committee was to identify ways to coordinate federal
government programs in order to promote a national policy on unemployment and other related
economic matters. Third, the committee was to produce a yearly report in response to the
President’s Economic Report to be released not later than May 1.
In addition to its three primary functions, the role of the Joint Committee was expanded in 19493
to include the issuance of a monthly publication on economic indicators. Later, in 1956, the
committee’s name was changed to the Joint Economic Committee.4 During this same period, the
due date of the committee’s economic report was moved to March 1.5 Finally, the Full
Employment and Balanced Growth Act of 1978 established the additional duty of submitting to
the House and Senate Committees on the Budget a report analyzing the short- and medium-term
goals contained within the President’s Economic Report.6 This report is due each year on March
15.
Membership
The membership of the Joint Committee was originally comprised of seven members from the
House and seven members from the Senate.7 The partisan distribution of the committee was, as
much as possible, to reflect the relative membership of the majority and minority parties in each
of their respective chambers. After some adjustment, the membership was ultimately set at a total
of 20 members, with each chamber’s contingent consisting of six members from the majority and
four from the minority.8 The Employment Act of 1946 stipulates that committee members are
1 For further information, see Joint and Select Committees, in House Manual, One Hundred Eleventh Congress, H.Doc.
110-162, 110th Cong., 2nd sess., [compiled by] John V. Sullivan, Parliamentarian (Washington: GPO, 2009), § 1108-
1112.
2 This act also created the Council of Economic Advisers to assist and advise the President in the preparation of the
Economic Report to be transmitted to Congress within 60 days of the beginning of each congressional session. P.L.
304, 79th Congress, 60 Stat. 23, approved February 20, 1946.
3 P.L. 120, 81st Congress, 63 Stat. 264, approved June 23, 1949.
4 P.L. 591, 84th Congress, 70 Stat. 289, approved June 18, 1956.
5 P.L. 405, 80th Congress, 62 Stat. 16, approved February 2, 1948.
6 P.L. 95-523, 92 Stat. 1887, approved October 27, 1978.
7 P.L. 304, 79th Congress.
8 P.L. 90-2, 81 stat. 4, approved January 25, 1967.
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History and Authority of the Joint Economic Committee
appointed by the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House.9 In the House, the Speaker
traditionally defers to the minority leader in the selection of the minority committee members. In
the Senate, the practice has been for the committee membership to be chosen by the majority and
minority party leaders and confirmed via the resolutions making committee assignments that are
passed at the beginning of each Congress.
The chair and vice chair of the committee rotate between the House and the Senate each
Congress. If the House and Senate are controlled by different majority parties, the chair and vice
chair represent the majority party in each of their respective chambers. The most senior minority
party member of the chamber opposite that of the chair is the ranking member.10
Although the Joint Committee has no legislative jurisdiction, it is authorized to hold hearings on
the Economic Report for the purpose of receiving testimony from Members of Congress,
government agencies, and the general public.11 Under the committee rules for the 111th Congress,
10 members of the committee constitute a quorum for conducting business. An affirmative vote
of 11 committee members is required to issue its reports to Congress; any member is allowed to
make a supplementary or dissenting report from the majority report.
Author Contact Information
Jessica Tollestrup
Analyst on Congress and the Legislative Process
jtollestrup@crs.loc.gov, 7-0941
9 Public Law 304, 79th Congress, 60 Stat. 23, approved February 20, 1946.
10 Joint Economic Committee, in Rules Adopted by the Committees of the House of Representatives, 111th Cong., 1st
sess., complied by the Committee on Rules (Washington: GPO, 2009), pp. 359-365.
11 P.L. 95-523, 1978.
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