House Rules Changes Affecting Committee Procedure in the 118th Congress (2023-2024)

House Rules Changes Affecting Committee Procedure in the 118th Congress (2023-2024)

House Rules Changes Affecting Committee
April 26, 2023
Procedure in the 118th Congress (2023-2024)
Jane A. Hudiburg
As agreed to in the House, H.Res. 5, a resolution adopting the rules of the House of
Analyst on Congress and
Representatives, provided amendments to the rules, as well as separate orders, that affect
the Legislative Process
committee procedure in the 118th Congress (2023-2024). The House also agreed to two separate

resolutions that established a select committee and a select subcommittee. The House did not
reestablish separate orders in force during the 117th Congress that enabled committee members to

participate remotely in hearings and markups during pandemic-related “covered periods,” as
designated by the Speaker.
Amendments to Rule X redesignated the Committee on Education and Labor and the Committee on Oversight and Reform as
the Committee on Education and the Workforce and the Committee on Oversight and Accountability, clarified that the
Committee on Homeland Security’s jurisdiction includes “cybersecurity” as it relates to the functions of the Department of
Homeland Security, reestablished a prior requirement for a committee-adopted authorization and oversight plan, and codified
into the standing rules previous separate orders that enabled the Committee on Agriculture to have six subcommittees.
Amendments to Rule XI directed the Committee on Ethics to adopt committee rules providing for a process to receive
complaints from the public. H.Res. 5 struck provisions that required the committee to adopt rules related to the treatment of
evidence in investigations, and it codified into standing rules earlier separate orders that directed the committee to form an
investigative subcommittee when a Member is indicted on a criminal charge.
H.Res. 5 amended clause 8(c) of Rule II to remove clarifying text related to the continuing of litigation matters from
Congress to Congress that was added in the 116th Congress. It also struck a provision from clause 3(b) of Rule XIII, which
had previously exempted the Committee on Rules from the requirement that committees include in their written reports the
numbers of votes cast for and against, and the names of members voting for and against, measures and matters decided by
record (rollcall) votes.
The rules package also included separate orders that affect committee procedure for the duration of the 118th Congress but are
not incorporated into the standing rules of the House:
 Any records of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol shall
be transferred to the Committee on House Administration not later than January 17, 2023.
 Any individual deposed by a committee may be accompanied by two personal, nongovernmental attorneys.
Committee members, staff designated by the chair or ranking member, and an official reporter are also
permitted to attend the deposition.
 Each full standing committee (except the Committee on Ethics) shall hold a “Member Day” hearing.
 Committee chairs may allow nongovernmental witnesses to appear remotely at committee proceedings,
within certain limits.
 The Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic is established as a select subcommittee of the
Committee on Oversight and Accountability.
Apart from the rules package, the House agreed to H.Res. 11, establishing a Select Committee on the Strategic Competition
between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, and H.Res. 12, establishing a Select Subcommittee on the
Weaponization of the Federal Government as a subcommittee of the Committee on the Judiciary. The select committee and
subcommittee are to serve in an investigatory capacity during the 118th Congress.
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Contents
Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1
General Committee Procedure ........................................................................................................ 1
Termination of Remote Participation of Committee Members ................................................. 1
Remote Appearance of Witnesses ............................................................................................. 2
Committee Authorization and Oversight Plans ......................................................................... 2
Scope of Authority to Act in Continuing Litigation Matters ..................................................... 3
Deposition Authority ................................................................................................................. 3
Member Day Hearings .............................................................................................................. 4
Committee on House Administration .............................................................................................. 4
Transfer of Certain Committee Records to the Committee on House Administration .............. 4
Committee on Education and the Workforce ................................................................................... 4
Designating Committee on Education and the Workforce ........................................................ 4
Committee on Ethics ....................................................................................................................... 5
Acceptance of Information from the Public .............................................................................. 5
Empaneling Investigative Subcommittee of Committee on Ethics ........................................... 5
Treatment of Evidence in Committee and Subcommittee Investigations ................................. 5
Committee on Homeland Security .................................................................................................. 6
Cybersecurity ............................................................................................................................ 6
Committee on Rules ........................................................................................................................ 6
Record Votes on Measures Reported by the Committee on Rules ............................................ 6
Committee on Agriculture ............................................................................................................... 6
Subcommittees of the Committee of Agriculture ...................................................................... 6
Committee on Oversight and Accountability .................................................................................. 6
Designating Committee on Oversight and Accountability ........................................................ 6
Information to Committees of Congress on Request ................................................................ 7
Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic ................................................................. 7
Separate Resolutions ....................................................................................................................... 8
Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the
Chinese Communist Party ...................................................................................................... 8
Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government as a Select
Subcommittee of the Committee on the Judiciary ................................................................. 9

Contacts
Author Information ........................................................................................................................ 10

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House Rules Changes Affecting Committee Procedure in the 118th Congress

Introduction
In January 2023, the House agreed to H.Res. 5, a resolution “Adopting the Rules of the House of
Representatives for the One Hundred Eighteenth Congress.” This report summarizes provisions
affecting committee procedure in the 118th Congress (2023-2024) as provided for in H.Res. 5 and
in two subsequent resolutions.1
H.Res. 5 provided amendments to the standing rules of the House, as well as separate orders, that
affect committee procedure in the 118th Congress.2 Several of these changes apply to general
committee procedure, while others concern specific committees, such as modifications to the
name, jurisdiction, or procedures of certain House committees, as well as the establishment of a
select subcommittee for the duration of the Congress. The House also agreed to two additional
resolutions (H.Res. 11 and H.Res. 12) that established a select committee and a select
subcommittee, respectively, to conduct investigations during the 118th Congress.
General Committee Procedure
Termination of Remote Participation of Committee Members
The House did not re-adopt orders in force during the 117th Congress that enabled committee
members to participate remotely in hearings and markups during pandemic-related “covered
periods,” as designated by the Speaker. In the 118th Congress, Members must be physically
present at committee meetings in order to participate.
The 117th Congress rules package, H.Res. 8, and provisions of H.Res. 965 (116th Congress) had
enabled House committees to conduct official committee proceedings remotely under specified
circumstances.3 Pursuant to these earlier resolutions, committees could conduct entirely virtual or
hybrid meetings, and Members participating remotely could vote and be counted toward required
quorums.

1 This report does not consider changes related to the budget process, floor proceedings, or the administration of
Congress (i.e., salaries, staff training, and membership requirements on boards and commissions). For more
information about changes to House rules affecting floor procedure, see CRS Report R47490, House Rules Changes
Affecting Floor Proceedings in the 118th Congress (2023-2024), by Jane A. Hudiburg. For more information about
budget process changes in the 118th Congress, see CRS Report R47384, Changes to House Rules Affecting the
Congressional Budget Process Included in H.Res. 5 (118th Congress), by James V. Saturno and Megan S. Lynch.
2 See H.Res. 5; U.S. Congress, House, Rules of the House of Representatives, One Hundred Eighteenth Congress,
prepared by Cheryl L. Johnson, Clerk of the House of Representatives, 118th Cong., 1st sess., 2023; U.S. Congress,
House, Constitution, Jefferson’s Manual and the Rules of the House of Representatives of the United States One
Hundred Seventeenth Congress (hereinafter House Manual), 116th Cong., 2nd sess., 2021 (Washington: GPO, 2021);
U.S. Congress, House Committee on Rules, H. Res. 5, Adopting the Rules for the 118th Congress, Section-by-Section
Analysis (hereinafter Section-by-Section), 118th Cong., 1st sess., 2023. For information on changes to committee
procedure in the 117th Congress, see CRS Report R46804, House Rules Changes Affecting Committee Procedure in the
117th Congress (2021-2022), by Jane A. Hudiburg.
3 For more information about remote committee proceedings in the 116th and 117th Congresses, see CRS Report
R46804, House Rules Changes Affecting Committee Procedure in the 117th Congress (2021-2022), by Jane A.
Hudiburg.
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House Rules Changes Affecting Committee Procedure in the 118th Congress

Remote Appearance of Witnesses
Pursuant to a separate order, in the 118th Congress, committee chairs may allow nongovernmental
witnesses to appear remotely at committee proceedings, provided that they follow certain
requirements contained in regulations submitted by the chair of the Committee on Rules for
publication in the Congressional Record. Such witnesses may be accompanied by counsel. Any
oath taken may be administered by the chair of the committee or a member designated by the
chair.4
According to the “Regulations for the Remote Participation of Committee Witnesses,”
nongovernmental witnesses may testify remotely if the majority leader has provided written
approval of the remote participation, and the chair of the committee has determined that such
testimony is “necessary” and the witness is unable to participate in person “due to extreme
hardship or other exceptional circumstances.” The committee “may only utilize a software
platform certified by the Chief Administrative Officer,” and witnesses appearing in a remote
capacity must “agree to remain on the platform until excused by the chair.”5
Committee Authorization and Oversight Plans
H.Res. 5 amended clause 2(d) of Rule X to reestablish a requirement last in force during the 115th
Congress (2017-2018) that each standing committee—other than the Committees on
Appropriations, Ethics, and Rules—adopt an authorization and oversight plan relating to
programs and agencies within the committee’s jurisdiction.
During the first session of a Congress, each covered committee is to adopt the plan in an open
meeting not later than March 1 and simultaneously summit the plan to the Committee on
Oversight and Accountability and the Committee on House Administration. Not later than April
15, and in consultation with the Speaker, the majority leader, and the minority leader, the
Committee on Oversight and Accountability shall report to the House the plans submitted by the
standing committees, together with any recommendations the committees or House leadership
“may make to ensure the most effective coordination of authorization and oversight plans and
otherwise to achieve the objectives of this clause.”6
“To the maximum extent possible,” each authorization and oversight plan shall include:
 a list of agencies or programs that have lapsed authorizations or have permanent
authorizations that have not been comprehensively reviewed by the committee of
jurisdiction within the past three Congresses;
 a description of programs and agencies to be authorized during the current or
following Congresses;
 a description of any oversight needed to support program and agency
authorizations; and
 recommendations for moving such programs and agencies from mandatory to
discretionary funding, if applicable.
Optional content includes:

4 Oaths are administered pursuant to clause 2(m)(2) of Rule XI.
5 The Rules Committee’s Regulations for the Remote Participation of Committee Witnesses is available at
https://rules.house.gov/press-releases/118th-congress-regulations.
6 H.Res. 5.
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 “recommendations for the consolidation or termination of such programs or
agencies that are duplicative, unnecessary, or inconsistent with the appropriate
roles and responsibilities of the Federal Government;”
 “recommendations for changes to existing law related to Federal rules,
regulations, statutes, and court decisions affecting such programs and agencies
that are inconsistent with the authorities of the Congress under Article I of the
Constitution;” and
 descriptions of any other oversight activities the committee deems necessary.
Scope of Authority to Act in Continuing Litigation Matters
H.Res. 5 amended clause 8(c) of Rule II to strike the phrase including, but not limited to, the
issuance of subpoenas, which was added to the rule via the 117th Congress rules package (H.Res.
8).7 As amended in the 118th Congress, clause 8(c) states that the House, the Speaker, a
committee, or a chair of a committee has the authority to “take such steps as may be appropriate”
to continue an investigation spanning more than one Congress.
According to the 117th Congress Rules Committee’s Section-by-Section Analysis of H.Res. 5,
which was prepared by the committee’s majority staff, the addition of including, but not limited
to, the issuance of subpoenas clarified that committees and their chairs, if previously authorized,
had the authority to “immediately reissue subpoenas, prior to the organization of their
committees, to ensure litigation can continue uninterrupted.”8 In the 118th Congress, however, the
committee’s majority staff found the phrase to be “superfluous,” and the House, by agreeing to
this technical change in H.Res. 5, restored clause 8(c) to the text contained in the 115th Congress
and 116th Congress House rules.9
Deposition Authority
A separate order reestablishes separate orders in force during the prior Congress relating to
deposition authority and provides a new clause specifying the persons permitted to attend
committee depositions. As in earlier Congresses, the separate order states that the chair of a
standing committee (excluding the Rules Committee) and the chair of the Permanent Select
Committee on Intelligence “may order the taking of depositions, including pursuant to subpoena,
by a member or counsel of such committee” after consulting with the ranking member of the
committee. In addition, such depositions “shall be subject to regulations issued by the chair of the
Committee on Rules and printed in the Congressional Record.”10
The 118th Congress separate order stipulates that deponents may be accompanied by two
personal, nongovernmental attorneys “to advise them of their rights.” Committee members, staff
designated by the chair or ranking member, and an official reporter are also permitted to attend a
deposition.

7 See CRS Report R46804, House Rules Changes Affecting Committee Procedure in the 117th Congress (2021-2022),
by Jane A. Hudiburg.
8 U.S. Congress, House Committee on Rules, Adopting the Rules for the 117th Congress, Section-by-Section Analysis
(117th Cong., 1st sess., 2021).
9 Section-by-Section, 118th Congress.
10 The Rules Committee’s Regulations for the Use of Deposition Authority is available at https://rules.house.gov/press-
releases/118th-congress-regulations.
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Member Day Hearings
A separate order reestablished, with one revision, a separate order from the 117th Congress that
requires committees to hold Member Day hearings. That is, during the first session of the
Congress (or the first or second session for the Committee on Rules11) each standing committee
(except the Committee on Ethics) shall hold a “Member Day” hearing, enabling House Members,
regardless of whether or not they serve on the committee, to testify on proposed legislation within
the committee’s jurisdiction.
The 117th Congress separate order contained, after reference to standing committees, the phrase
or each subcommittee thereof (other than a subcommittee on oversight), enabling the Member
Day hearing requirement to be fulfilled at the subcommittee level. H.Res. 5 removed those words,
restoring the requirement from the 116th Congress that the Member Day hearing be held at the full
committee level.
Committee on House Administration
Transfer of Certain Committee Records to the Committee on House
Administration
A separate order directed the transfer of any records of the Select Committee to Investigate the
January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol to the Committee on House Administration not
later than January 17, 2023. Such records “shall become the records of the Committee on House
Administration.”
Committee on Education and the Workforce
Designating Committee on Education and the Workforce
The rules package redesignated the Committee on Education and Labor, changing the
committee’s name to the Committee on Education and the Workforce. H.Res. 5 strikes Labor
from clauses 1(e) and 3(d) of Rule X and inserts the Workforce.
Since its establishment in 1867 (40th Congress), the committee has operated under several names:
Education and Labor (40th-47th, 80th-103rd, 110th, 111th, 116th, and 117th Congresses); Education
(48th-79th Congresses); Economic and Educational Opportunities (104th Congress); and Education
and the Workforce (105th-109th, 112th-115th, and 118th Congresses). In its recent history, the
committee has been designated the Committee on Education and the Workforce under periods of
Republican House majority and the Committee on Education and Labor under periods of
Democratic majority.

11 The separate orders in the 116th, 117th, and 118th Congresses allowed the Committee on Rules to hold its Member
Day hearing during the second session of the Congress. According to the 116th Congress’s Committee on Rules, a
second session hearing enables Members to testify on proposed rules changes for the upcoming Congress. U.S.
Congress, House Committee on Rules, H.Res. 6, Adopting the Rules for the 116th Congress, Section-by-Section
Analysis, 116th Cong., 1st sess., 2019.
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Committee on Ethics12
Acceptance of Information from the Public
H.Res. 5 amended clause 3(r) of Rule XI to add a subparagraph (2) that directs the Committee on
Ethics to adopt rules providing for a process to receive complaints from the public. The process
should include a method for submitting outside information to the committee in “electronic
form.”
Empaneling Investigative Subcommittee of Committee on Ethics
H.Res. 5 amends clause 3(b) of Rule XI to add a subparagraph (9), codifying into House rules
earlier separate orders that directed the Committee on Ethics to form an investigative
subcommittee when a Member is indicted on a criminal charge. As initially established by H.Res.
451 (110th Congress, 2007-2008) and reestablished as separate orders in subsequent Congresses,
the text of subparagraph (9) instructs the committee to empanel an investigative subcommittee to
review the allegations whenever a Member is indicted or otherwise formally charged with
criminal conduct in a court of the United States or any state not later than 30 days after the date of
such indictment or charge. If the committee chooses not to empanel a subcommittee, it is required
to submit a report to the House describing the reasons for not empaneling an investigative
subcommittee, as well as the actions, if any, the committee took in response to the allegations.13
Treatment of Evidence in Committee and Subcommittee
Investigations
The rules package strikes two subparagraphs from clause 3(p) of Rule XI that had instructed the
Committee on Ethics to adopt committee rules related to the use of court documents and exhibits
as evidence in its investigations. According to the Rules Committee’s Section-by-Section
Analysis, these subparagraphs are unnecessary because the Committee on Ethics has already
adopted such rules.14
Subparagraph (9) required the committee to state in its rules the committee’s authority, or an
investigative subcommittee’s authority, to examine the trial transcript and associated exhibits for
a trial that resulted in a criminal conviction. Subparagraph (5)(E) required that the committee
adopt a rule stating that a respondent to a committee investigation must receive written notice
whenever the committee or investigative subcommittee uses as evidence criminal trial transcripts
or exhibits.

12 H.Res. 5 also, in a separate order, directs the Speaker to establish a bipartisan task force “to conduct a comprehensive
review of House ethics rules and regulations.” This task force shall “submit recommended improvements to the
Speaker, the Majority Leader, the Minority Leader, and the respective chairs and ranking minority members of the
committees on Ethics and Rules.” The establishment and possible impact of this task force is outside of the scope of
this report.
13 H.Res. 451 (110th Congress); CRS Report 98-15, House Committee on Ethics: A Brief History of Its Evolution and
Jurisdiction, by Jacob R. Straus.
14 Section-by-Section, 118th Congress.
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Committee on Homeland Security
Cybersecurity
H.Res. 5 amended clause 1(j)(3) of Rule X to add subparagraph (G) Cybersecurity. This
amendment clarifies that the jurisdiction of the Committee on Homeland Security includes
cybersecurity as it relates to “functions of the Department of Homeland Security.” According to
the Committee on Rules, the clarification will not alter other committees’ jurisdictions, and
“committees currently holding jurisdiction over cybersecurity functions of DHS will retain a
shared jurisdictional interest in such functions.”15
Committee on Rules
Record Votes on Measures Reported by the Committee on Rules
The rules package amended clause 3(b) of Rule XIII to strike the provision that previously
exempted the Committee on Rules from the requirement that committees include in their written
reports the number of votes cast for and against, and the names of Members voting for and
against, measures and matters decided by record (rollcall) votes. Previously, this provision stated
that the requirement to depict record votes in committee reports applied only “to the maximum
extent practicable to a report by the Committee on Rules on a rule, joint rule, or the order of
business.”16
Committee on Agriculture
Subcommittees of the Committee of Agriculture
H.Res. 5 codified in the standing rules separate orders in force in prior Congresses that allowed
the Committee on Agriculture to have not more than six subcommittees rather than be limited to
five subcommittees (or six if one subcommittee is on oversight), pursuant to clause 5(d) of Rule
X.
Committee on Oversight and Accountability
Designating Committee on Oversight and Accountability
The rules package amended House rules to redesignate the Committee on Oversight and Reform
the Committee on Oversight and Accountability. H.Res. 5 struck each occurrence of Committee
on Oversight and Reform in the standing rules and replaced it with Committee on Oversight and
Accountability.
In previous Congresses, the committee has operated under different names. In 1927, the
committee was established as the Committee on Expenditures in the Executive Departments,

15 Section-by-Section, 118th Congress.
16 House Manual, §835.
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consolidating 11 separate committees that investigated such expenditures. In 1953, the House
changed its name to the Committee on Government Operations.17 In 1995, the committee
assumed the jurisdictions of the Committee on the Post Office and Civil Service and the
Committee on the District of Columbia, which were abolished, and was designated the
Committee on Government Reform and Oversight. Since then, it has also operated under the
name Government Reform (106th-111th Congresses), Oversight and Government Reform (112th-
115th Congresses), Oversight and Reform (116th-117th Congresses), and now Oversight and
Accountability.
Information to Committees of Congress on Request
A separate order clarifies that the chair of the Committee on Oversight and Accountability shall
be one of the seven members of the committee making any official request for information
pursuant to Section 2954, Title 5, of the United States Code, a provision colloquially known as
the “Seven Member Rule.”18 Section 2954 provides that, on request of the House Committee on
Government Operations (now the Committee on Oversight and Accountability), “or of any seven
members thereof,” an executive agency “shall submit any information requested of it relating to
any matter within the jurisdiction of the committee.” In the 118th Congress, the seven-committee-
member minimum for such requests must include the chair of the Committee on Oversight and
Accountability.
Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic
In a separate order, H.Res. 5 established the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic
as a select subcommittee of the Committee on Oversight and Accountability. For the duration of
the 118th Congress, the select subcommittee is to investigate and report on, among several
subjects:
 the origins of the Coronavirus pandemic;
 the effectiveness of the use of taxpayer funds for virus-relief programs;
 waste or fraud regarding those funds;
 pandemic-related federals laws or regulations implemented or considered;
 the “development of vaccines and treatments, and vaccination policies for
Federal employees and the armed forces;”
 the “societal impacts of closing schools;” and
 “protection of whistleblowers who provide information on waste, fraud, abuse,
and improper activities related to the coronavirus pandemic.”
The Speaker is to appoint to the select committee not more than 16 members and to designate,
from this membership, the chair.19 (Seven members shall be appointed in consultation with the

17 U.S. Congress, House Committee on Government Reform, Activities of the House Committee on Government
Reform, 106-1053, 106th Cong., 2nd sess. (Washington: GPO, 2001).
18 “An Executive agency, on request of the Committee on Government Operations of the House of Representatives, or
of any seven members thereof, or on request of the Committee on Governmental Affairs of the Senate, or any five
members thereof, shall submit any information requested of it relating to any matter within the jurisdiction of the
committee” (5 U.S.C §2954).
19 H.Res. 5, which established the select committee, was subsequently amended by H.Res. 78, changing the
composition of the select committee from not more than 12 members to not more than 16 members.
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minority leader.20) The chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on Oversight and
Accountability shall serve on the select committee as ex officio members but have no vote on the
select committee or be counted for purposes of establishing a quorum. For purposes of the
subcommittee, the members are to be treated as members of the Committee on Oversight and
Accountability. However, membership to the subcommittee will not count against the House
rules’ limitation of Members’ service to not more than four subcommittees of the standing
committees.21
The select subcommittee does not have subpoena power or legislative authority, and, thus, cannot
report legislation. However, the full Oversight and Accountability Committee or its chair “may
authorize and issue subpoenas to be returned at the select subcommittee,” and the select
subcommittee can from “time to time” report to the House or any House committee the results of
its investigations or legislative recommendations.22
Not later than January 2, 2025, the select subcommittee is to issue a final report, and 30 days after
that report is filed, the select subcommittee shall cease to exist. With respect to any litigation
matter, the Committee on the Oversight and Accountability is designated as the select
subcommittee’s “successor in interest” and “shall take such steps as may be appropriate to ensure
continuation of such litigation matter.”23
Separate Resolutions
Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United
States and the Chinese Communist Party
In a separate resolution, H.Res. 11, the House established a Select Committee on the Strategic
Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party. The select
committee’s “sole authority” is to “investigate and submit policy recommendations on the status
of the Chinese Communist Party’s economic, technological, and security progress and its
competition with the United States.” Accordingly, the select committee may hold public hearings
in the performance of this investigative function.
The Speaker is to appoint to the select committee not more than 24 members and to designate,
from this membership, the chair.24 (Eleven members are to be appointed in consultation with the
minority leader.25) The Speaker and the minority leader shall serve on the select committee as ex
officio members but have no vote on the select committee or be counted for purposes of
establishing a quorum. Each leader may appoint a staff member in support of his or her service.
The select committee does not have legislative jurisdiction. In other respects, with specified
exceptions, it “shall have the authorities and responsibilities of, and shall be subject to the same

20 H.Res. 78.
21 Clause 5(b)(2)(A) of Rule X.
22 H.Res. 5. Clause 2(m)(3)(A)(i) of Rule XI enables the committee (or the chair of the committee if delegated such
authority by committee rules) to authorize and issue subpoenas. The Committee on Oversight and Accountability’s
committee rules, 118th Congress, provide that the chair of the committee may authorize and issue subpoenas.
23 Clause 8(c) of Rule II.
24 H.Res. 11, which established the select committee, was subsequently amended by H.Res. 78, changing the
composition of the select committee from not more than 16 members to not more than 24 members.
25 H.Res. 78.
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limitations and restrictions as, a standing committee of the House.”26 These authorities include the
power to authorize and issue subpoenas for testimony and documents, pursuant to clause 2(m) of
Rule XI.
H.Res. 11 enables the select committee to report to the House or any committee “from time to
time” the results of its investigations, as well as any “detailed findings, policy recommendations,
and legislative proposals.” Policy recommendations are to be submitted to the “relevant standing
committees not later than December 31, 2023,” and reports to the House are to be submitted by
December 31, 2024. Within 30 days of these respective dates for completion, the
recommendations and reports shall be made available to the public “in widely accessible formats”
and in unclassified form but may include “a classified annex, a law enforcement-sensitive annex,
or both.”
Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal
Government as a Select Subcommittee of the Committee on the
Judiciary
H.Res. 12 established the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government
as a select investigative subcommittee of the Committee on the Judiciary. The select
subcommittee is to investigate, among other subjects, the authority of the executive branch to
“facilitate action against American citizens, including the extent, if any, to which illegal or
improper, unconstitutional, or unethical activities were engaged in by the executive branch or
private sector against citizens of the United States.”27
On February 1, 2023, the House agreed to a unanimous consent request that raised the select
subcommittee’s membership threshold from the number set by H.Res. 12, as amended by H.Res.
78. According to this agreement, the composition of the select subcommittee shall be “not more
than 21 Members, Delegates, or the Resident Commissioner appointed by the Speaker, of whom
not more than 9 shall be appointed in consultation with the Minority Leader.”28
The select subcommittee’s membership shall include the chair and ranking minority member of
the Committee on the Judiciary. For purposes of the subcommittee, the members are to be treated
as members of the full committee. However, membership on the subcommittee will not count
against the limitation in House rules on Members’ service on not more than four subcommittees.29
The select subcommittee does not have subpoena power. However, the Committee on the
Judiciary or its chair “may authorize and issue subpoenas to be returned at the select

26 The exceptions are as follows: Service does not count on limitations in clause 5(b)(2) of Rule X (Members cannot
serve on more than two standing committees or more than four subcommittees); the select committee does not have to
prepare an authorization and oversight plan (clause 2(d) of Rule X); and, like the Permanent Select Committee on
Intelligence, the subcommittee may vote to “close up to five additional, consecutive days of hearings” (clause
2(g)(2)(D) of Rule XI).
27 See H.Res. 12 for a complete list of investigative authorities.
28 H.Res. 12, as amended by H.Res. 78, specified the select subcommittee’s membership as “the chair and ranking
minority member of the Committee on the Judiciary, together with not more than 12 other Members, Delegates, or the
Resident Commissioner appointed by the Speaker, of whom not more than 9 shall be appointed in consultation with the
minority leader.”
29 Clause 5(b)(2)(A) of Rule X.
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House Rules Changes Affecting Committee Procedure in the 118th Congress

subcommittee.”30 In addition, the select subcommittee “shall be authorized to receive information
available to the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence,” pursuant to clause 11 of Rule X.31
The select subcommittee has no legislative authority, so it cannot report legislation. The
subcommittee, though, may report the results of its investigations, findings, or any legislative
recommendations to the House or to any House committee.
Not later than January 2, 2025, the select subcommittee is to issue a final report and may, prior to
that date, issue “such interim reports as it may deem necessary.”32 Thirty days after the final
report is filed, the select subcommittee shall cease to exist. The Committee on the Judiciary is
authorized to act as the successor of the select subcommittee with respect to any litigation matter
and is authorized to “take such steps as may be appropriate to ensure continuation of such
litigation matter.”33

Author Information

Jane A. Hudiburg

Analyst on Congress and the Legislative Process

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30 H.Res. 12. Clause 2(m)(3)(A)(i) of Rule XI enables the committee (or the chair of the committee if delegated such
authority by committee rules) to authorize and issue subpoenas. The Committee on the Judiciary’s committee rules,
118th Congress, provide that the chair of the committee may authorize and issue subpoenas following consultation with
the ranking minority member.
31 H.Res. 12.
32 H.Res. 12.
33 H.Res. 12; clause 8(c) of Rule II.
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