There are two main types of congressional committees in the United States House of Representatives, standing committees and select committees. Committee Chairs are selected by whichever party is in the majority, and the minority party selects Ranking Members to lead them. The committees and party conferences may have rules determining term limits for leadership and membership, though waivers can be issued. While the Democrats and Republicans differ on the exact processes by which committee leadership and assignments are chosen, most standing committees are selected by the respective party steering committees and ratified by the party conferences.[1][2] The Ethics, House Administration, Rules and all select committees are chosen by the party leaders (Speaker in the majority and Minority Leader in the minority). Most committees are additionally subdivided into subcommittees, each with its own leadership selected according to the full committee's rules.[3][4]
The modern House committees were brought into existence through the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946. This bill reduced the number of House committees, as well as restructured the committees' jurisdictions.[5]
Committee | Chair | Ranking Member | Refs | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Subcommittee | ||||
Climate Crisis (Select) | Kathy Castor (D-FL) | Garret Graves (R-LA) | [56][57] | |
Human Rights (Lantos Commission) | Jim McGovern (D-MA) | Chris Smith (R-NJ) | [58] | |
Intelligence (Permanent Select) | Adam Schiff (D-CA) | Devin Nunes (R-CA) | [59][7] | |
Counterterrorism, Counterintelligence and Counterproliferation | André Carson (D-IN) | Rick Crawford (R-AR) | [60][61] | |
Defense Intelligence and Warfighter Support | Terri Sewell (D-AL) | Brad Wenstrup (R-OH) | ||
Intelligence Modernization and Readiness | Eric Swalwell (D-CA) | Will Hurd (R-TX) | ||
Strategic Technologies and Advanced Research | Jim Himes (D-CT) | Chris Stewart (R-UT) | ||
Modernization of Congress (Select) | Derek Kilmer (D-WA) | Vacant | [62][63] |