Senate Rules and Practices on Committee, Subcommittee, and Chairmanship Assignment Limitations as of November 4, 2000
CRS Report for Congress
Senate Rules and Practices on Committee,
Subcommittee, and Chairmanship Assignment
Limitations as of November 4, 2000
Updated November 4, 2000
Judy Schneider
Specialist on the Congress
Government and Finance Division
Congressional Research Service The Library of Congress
Senate Rules and Practices on Committee,
Subcommittee, and Chairmanship Assignment
Limitations as of November 4, 2000
Summary
Senate Rule XXV and party practice limit the number and types of committee
and subcommittee assignments a Member may hold. The rule sets the size of each
committee, and Senate tradition dictates that, in most instances, party ratios in
committee reflect the overall party ratio in the chamber. Both parties utilize Member
seniority, state represented, and ideology as factors influencing committee
assignments.
Rule XXV divides committees into three classes, characterized as A, B, and C.
Class A consists of 12 standing committees; class B includes four standing
committees, two select committees and one joint committee; and class C includes two
select or special committees and three joint committees.
Normally, each Senator would be assigned to three committees (two in class A
and one in class B) and eight subcommittees (three on each class A committee, and
two on the class B committee). There are no limitations on assignments to class C
panels.
However, under exceptions often granted in the rule (called “grandfather
rights”), some Senators have additional committee and subcommittee assignments.
This report details these limitations and exceptions.
Contents
Introduction ................................................... 1
I. Full Committee Assignments.....................................3
II. Subcommittee Assignments.....................................9
III. Full Committee Chairmanships.................................10
IV. Subcommittee Chairmanships..................................11
Senate Rules and Practices on Committee,
Subcommittee, and Chairmanship Assignment
Limitations as of November 4, 2000
Introduction
By standing rule, the Senate limits the number and types of committee and
subcommittee assignments a Member may hold. The rule (Rule XXV, paragraphs 2,
3, and 4)1 further sets the size of each committee. Decisions on Senate committee and
subcommittee assignments involve many other factors as well. Both parties utilize
Member seniority, state represented, and ideology as factors influencing assignments
to committees. Senate traditions further dictate that, in most instances, party ratios
in committees reflect the overall party ratio in the chamber.
The comprehensive and complex system of limitations began to evolve at least
100 years ago. By the second half of the 19th century, for example, it was already an
accepted, although informal, practice that no Senator should chair more than one
legislative committee. The Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970 incorporated a
slightly more restrictive version of that practice into the standing rules. Previously,
chairs of standing legislative committees sometimes also chaired joint, select, or
special committees. The 1970 rule prohibited Senators from chairing more than one
committee of any kind, with two exceptions: (1) a standing committee chair may also
chair a joint committee the jurisdiction of which is directly related to that of the
standing committee, and (2) a chairman may also chair one temporary committee or
temporary joint committee (not including conference committees). The prohibition
in force today—adopted on February 4, 1977, when the Senate agreed to S.Res. 4 of
the 95th Congress—continues the first exception but reflects a small change to the
second (See Section III of this report.)
Early in the 20th century, both parties in the Senate adopted informal practices
intended to distribute committee assignments, especially to prestigious committees,
more equitably. Dissatisfaction with the results led to the adoption of formal, more
elaborate limitations in the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946. The new rule
limited each Senator to membership on two so-called major standing committees.
However, majority party Senators—and later all Senators—were permitted additional
assignments on so-called minor standing committees. In addition, Senators could
serve on any number of special, select, and joint committees.
1Standing Rules of the Senate. S. Doc. 106-15, 106th Congress, 2nd Session.
The Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970 introduced a more comprehensive,
yet complex and restrictive, system. All committees were subjected to the limitations
code and divided among three classes. Senators were required to serve on two
committees in the first class and permitted to serve on one in each of the other classes.
To assure majority-party control of all committees in a closely divided Senate,
Senators could receive temporary assignments to a fifth committee. Exceptions in the
form of “grandfather rights” were granted to protect the assignments of Senators
sitting on more than the prescribed number of committees before the effective date
of the act, January 3, 1971.
Over the years, the Senate granted extensions of grandfather rights, permitted
some Senators to serve on additional committees without losing other assignments,
and exempted certain committees from the limitations rules. These actions permitted
some Senators a larger number of committee assignments than they otherwise might
have held under the Legislative Reorganization Act’s limitations.
During its comprehensive review of committee operations, the 1976 Temporary
Select Committee to Study the Senate Committee System, chaired by Adlai Stevenson
III, D-Ill., found that the average number of committee and subcommittee
assignments per Senator had more than tripled in 30 years. For example, in 1947 each
Senator served on approximately five panels; in 1976, that number had increased to
19. The select committee concluded that this proliferation of assignments was
responsible for “an inefficient division of labor, uneven distribution of responsibility,
conflicts in the scheduling of meetings, waste of Senators’ and staff time,
unsystematic lawmaking and oversight, inadequate anticipation of major problems,
and inadequate membership participation in committee decisions.” 2 It was in this
atmosphere that the Senate agreed to S.Res. 4, 95th Congress, which incorporated
the new assignment limits into the Senate rules.
The 1977 revision of the rules continued the three-class committee structure of
1970, changed the composition of the classes somewhat, and eliminated the overall
limitation on assignments in the third class. The rules revision also retained the
mechanism for temporary additional assignments to assure majority party control of
committees. Although S.Res. 4 retained the concept of grandfather rights, most
expired at the start of the 96th Congress. However, the provisions allowing the
former chairs and ranking minority members on two abolished committees (the
District of Columbia Committee and the Post Office and Civil Service Committee) to
serve on the Committee on Governmental Affairs in addition to other assignments had
no expiration date. In addition, new temporary grandfather rights were created at the
beginning of the 96th Congress and at the beginning of every Congress since.
S.Res. 4, the Committee System Reorganization Amendments of 1977, also
removed the limitations on assignments to prestigious or exclusive committees. These
limitations had started as informal party practice and were converted into formal rules
by the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970. Both parties, nevertheless, continue
2U.S. Congress. Senate. Temporary Select Committee to Study the Senate Committee
System. First Report with Recommendations. Senate Report 94-1395, 94th Congress, 2nd
session, 1976. p. 6.
to enforce limitations on assignments to exclusive committees, although they differ
somewhat on the committees they regard as exclusive, as explained in Section I.
Restrictions on the Senate’s subcommittee structure were first adopted in the
1970 act and dealt only with subcommittee chairmanships. With the proviso that
Senators might continue to occupy all such chairmanships held as of January 3, 1971,
and continuously thereafter, no Senator was to serve as chair of more than one
subcommittee of any of his or her “class A” committees (see Section I). S.Res. 4 of
1977 eliminated the grandfather rights of 1970 and extended the prohibition on
subcommittee chairs to all committees. It also inaugurated limitations on
subcommittee assignments, in most cases allowing Members to serve on three
subcommittees of each “class A” committee, and two subcommittees of each “class
B” committee.
The transfer of majority-party status to the Republicans as a result of the 1980
elections, changes recommended by the 1984 Select Committee on Committees, the
return of the Democrats to majority-party status in 1986, and the transfer of majority-
party status to the Republicans as a result of the 1994 elections necessitated further
temporary modifications to the assignment provisions and the adoption of new
grandfather rights. The balance of this report describes the current limitation
provisions.
I. Full Committee Assignments
Paragraphs 2, 3 and 4 of Senate Rule XXV, in effect, create three groups of
committees for assignment limitation purposes. For easier identification, these groups
are referred to below as classes A, B, and C, even though they are not so labeled in
the rule.
Subject to various exceptions in the rule, in resolutions, and in party regulations,
Rule XXV limits assignments in each class as follows:
!Each Senator shall serve on two committees, and no more than two, in class
A. This group consists of 12 standing committees.
!Each Senator may serve on one committee, and no more than one, in class B.
This group includes four standing committees, two permanent select and
special committees, and one joint committee.
!Each Senator may serve on one or more committees in class C. This group
includes a standing committee, a permanent special committee, and three joint
committees.
A.CLASS A ASSIGNMENTS (Rule XXV, par. 2)
Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry20
Appropriations 28
Armed Services18
Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs22
Commerce, Science, and Transportation20
Energy and Natural Resources20
Environment and Public Works18
Finance20
Foreign Relations18
Governmental Affairs16
Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions18
Judiciary18
2.Basic Conditions
a.Each Senator shall (must) serve on two, but not more than two, of the
committees listed above, except that some Senators may serve on as4
many as three or four of them under the following conditions.
(1)Great-Grandfather Rights: Any Senator who (1) on February
10, 1977, was serving as chairman or ranking minority member
of the now-defunct District of Columbia Committee or the Post
Office and Civil Service Committee, and (2) was appointed to
the Governmental Affairs Committee and two other class A
committees at the beginning of the 95th Congress may continue
to serve on the Governmental Affairs Committee and any two
other class A committees so long as his service on the
Governmental Affairs Committee is continuous. Such a Senator
may transfer from one committee to another and still retain three
class A assignments so long as the Senator maintains continuous
service on Governmental Affairs. This exception has no
expiration date.5
3As amended, S.Res. 13 (97th Cong., 1/5/81 ); S.Res. 365 (97th Cong., 4/20/82); S.Res.
S.Res. 53 (98 Cong., 2/3/83); S.Res. 338 (98 Cong., 2/9/84); S.Res. 74 (99 Cong.,thth
(101st Cong., 2/2/89); S.Res. 43 (102nd Cong., 2/5/91); S.Res. 135 (102nd Cong., 6/4/91);rdrdrd
S.Res. 4 (103 Cong., 1/7/93); S.Res. 130 (103 Cong., 7/1/93); S.Res. 132 (103 Cong.,
Cong., 1/9/97); S.Res. 354 (106 Cong., 9/12/00). See also, Rule XXV, par. 4(c).
4Rule XXV, par. 4(a)(1).
5Rule XXV, par. 4(g).
(2)Combinations of Certain Class A Committees: Senators who
were sitting on certain combinations of two class A committees
at the end of the 95th Congress were granted assignments to
specified third class A committees for the remainder of their
current Senate terms so long as their service on each of those
committees is continuous. However, Senators who sit on three
class A committees under this exception may not serve on any
other class A committees, or the class B Budget Committee,
even if they are eligible to do so under some other exception.6
The specified combinations of class A committees for the 106th
Congress were not included in the assignment resolutions for theth
(3)Party Ratios: Senators of the majority party may be assigned to
three class A committees when the majority and minority leaders
agree to a temporary increase in the size of a class A committee
in order to assure majority party control of that committee. Such
assignments are temporary and are to be relinquished once the
need for the increase in the committee’s size is past. No class A
committee may be increased in size, under this exception, by
more than two members in excess of the number prescribed for
that committee by paragraph 2 of Rule XXV.7
b.Republican Exclusive Committees: By Republican Conference rule,
no Republican Senator may serve simultaneously on more than one of
the following four exclusive committees:
Appropriations
Armed Services
Finance
Foreign Relations8
c.Democratic Exclusive Committees: Under a Democratic Conference
regulation of 1975, as modified in February 1977, no Democratic
Senator may serve simultaneously on more than one of the following
five exclusive committees:
Appropriations
Armed Services
Commerce, Science, and Transportation
Finance
Foreign Relations
6Rule XXV, par. 4.
7Rule XXV, par. 4(c).
8History, Rules and Precedents of the Senate Republican Conference. Rule V. G, 106th
Congress, October, 1999.
However, any Democratic Senator who was serving on more than one
of the then six Democratic exclusive committees on January 14, 1975,
may continue to serve on such exclusive committees as long as his9
service on those committees remains continuous.
d.Republican Same-State Practice: Two Republican Senators from the
same state may not be assigned to the same committee.10
e.Democratic Same-State Practice: By custom and informal practice,
two Democratic Senators from the same state are not assigned to the
same committee.11
B.CLASS B ASSIGNMENTS (Rule XXV, par. 3(a) and (b))
Permanent Select
Standing (4)Size12and Special (2)Size13
Budget22Aging18
Rules and Administration16Intelligence19
Small Business18
Veterans’ Affairs14
Joint (1)
Joint Economic10 (Senators)
9Democratic Conference Regulation, adopted January 15, 1975; modified February 10,
10History, Rules and Precedents of the Republican Conference, Precedents on p. 6 in
October 1999 edition.
11Information provided by the Secretary for the Minority of the Senate. However,
exceptions have occasionally occurred.
12S.Res. 101, as amended. S.Res. 13 (97th Cong., 1/5/81); S.Res. 101 (97th Cong.,
Cong., 1/6/87); S.Res. 211 (100 Cong., 5/12/87); S.Res. 43 (101 Cong., 2/2/89); S.Res.ndndrd
S.Res. 130 (103rd Cong., 7/1/93); S.Res. 34 (104th Cong., 1/6/95); S.Res. 9 ( 105th Cong.,th
13S.Res. 13 (97th Cong., 1/5/81); S.Res. 24 (97th Cong., 1/19/81); S.Res. 101 (97th
Cong., 3/25/81); S.Res. 338 (98th Cong., 2/9/84); S.Res. 85 (102nd Cong., 3/19/91); S.Res.rdthth
2.Basic Conditions
a.A Senator may serve on one, but not more than one, of the
committees listed above, although he is neither required nor entitled
to serve on such a committee, except:14
(1) Class A Great-Grandfathers: A Senator who sits on the
Governmental Affairs Committee, plus two other class A committees,
because he was formerly chairman or ranking minority member of the
District of Columbia or Post Office and Civil Service Committee, may
not serve on any class B committees, except the Committee on Rules15
and Administration.
(2) Budget Plus Two Class A Assignments: A Senator assigned to the
Budget Committee and two class A committees may not serve on any
other class B committee.
(3) Intelligence Committee: No Senator may be assigned to the Select
Committee on Intelligence for more than eight years of continuous
service, exclusive of service during the 94th Congress. To the
greatest extent practicable, one-third of the Senators appointed to the
Select Committee at the beginning of the 97th Congress and each
Congress thereafter shall be Senators who did not serve on the Select16
Committee during the preceding Congress.
(4) Intelligence Committee Exception: Mandatory service on the
Select Committee on Intelligence by the Senate majority and minority17
leaders is not considered a class B assignment.
(5) Joint Committees: A member of the Rules and Administration
Committee may not serve on any joint committee. (Members of the
Rules and Administration Committee may not serve on any joint
committee unless its Senate members are required by law to be
appointed from Rules and Administration or unless a Senator served
14Rule XXV, par. 4(a)(2). Note that the possibility of additional committee assignments
in order to assure majority party control of all Senate committees applies only to class A
committees, not to class B committees. See Rule XXV, par. 4(c). Note, further, that the rules
do not prohibit class B committee assignments for Senators who serve on three class A
committees because of previous assignments to certain combinations of two or three class A
committees.
15Rule XXV, par. 4(g).
16S.Res. 400, 94th Cong., May 19, 1976, sec. 2(b).
17S.Res. 400, 94th Cong., May 19, 1976, sec. 2(a)(3). Although the language does not
explicitly grant an exception, the requirement that both leaders be ex officio members of the
select committee, shall have no vote in the committee, and shall not be counted for determining
a quorum has been informally interpreted as constituting an exception.
on the Rules and Administration Committee and the Joint Taxation
Committee on the last day of the 98th Congress.18
b.Republican Same-State Practice: Two Republican Senators from the
same state may not be assigned to the same committee. (See note
c.Democratic Same-State Practice: By custom and informal practice,
two Democratic Senators from the same state are not assigned to the
same committee. (See note 11).
C.CLASS C ASSIGNMENTS (Rule XXV, par. 3(c))
Permanent Select (2)SizeJoint (3)Size
Indian Affairs1914Joint Taxation5 (Senators)
Ethics6Joint Library5
Joint Printing5
a.A Senator may serve on any number of the committees listed above,
although he or she is neither required nor entitled to serve on such a20
committee, except:
(1)A Senator may not serve on the Joint Committee on Taxation
unless he serves on the Finance Committee.21
18Rule XXV, par. 4(f).
19The Select Committee on Indian Affairs, previously scheduled to expire at the end of
the 95th Congress, was extended until the end of the 96th Congress by S.Res. 405 (95th Cong.,thth
S.Res. 44 (102 Cong., 2/5/91); S.Res. 18 (103 Cong., 1/21/93); S.Res. 34 (104 Cong.,thth
20On October 31, 1979, the Senate agreed to S.Res. 271 (96th Cong.; see Congressional
Record (daily ed.), Oct. 31, 1979, S15485-6), which removed the membership restrictions onth
the Select Committee on Ethics previously imposed by S.Res. 338 (88 Cong., 7/24/64, sec.th
1(d), as amended by S.Res. 4 (95 Cong., 2/4/77), sec. 102. These restrictions required that
each party assign one member to the select committee who had served in the Senate less than
six years, one who had served between six and 12 years, and one who had served more than
12 years. These restrictions also required that no Senator could serve on the select committee
for more than six continuous years.
2126 U.S.C. 8002(a)(1).
(2)Members of the Rules and Administration Committee may not
serve on the Joint Committee on Taxation. (Members of the
Rules and Administration Committee may not serve on any joint
committee unless its Senate members are required by law to be
appointed from Rules and Administration).22
(3)A Senator may not serve on the Joint Committee on the Library
or the Joint Committee on Printing unless he serves on the Rules
and Administration Committee.23
b.Republican Same-State Practice: Two Republican Senators from the
same state may not be assigned to the same committee. (See note
c.Democratic Same-State Practice: By custom and informal practice,
two Democratic Senators from the same state are not assigned to the
same committee. (See note 11).
II. Subcommittee Assignments
The rules of the Senate define subcommittees as follows: “No committee of the
Senate may establish any subunit of that committee other than a subcommittee, unless
the Senate by resolution has given permission therefor. For purposes of this
subparagraph, any subunit of a joint committee shall be treated as a subcommittee.”24
A.Class A: A Senator may not serve on more than three subcommittees of any25
class A committee except:
1.A Senator may serve on any number of subcommittees on the Committee
on Appropriations.26
2.A Senator may serve ex officio, without vote, on any number of
subcommittees on a committee of which he or she is chair or ranking
minority member.27
22Rule XXV, par. 4(f). However, during the 104th Congress, one Senator served on the
Finance Committee, the Rules and Administration Committee, and the Joint Taxation
Committee.
2344 U.S.C. 101; 2 U.S.C. 132 b.
24Rule XXV, par. 4(b)(4).
25Rule XXV, par. 4(b)(1).
26Rule XXV, par. 4(b)(1).
27Rule XXV, par. 4(b)(3).
B.Class B: A Senator may not serve on more than two subcommittees on any class
B committee except:28
1. A Senator may serve ex officio, without vote, on any number of
subcommittees on a committee of which he or she is chair or ranking minority
member.29
C.Class C: A Senator may serve on any number of subcommittees on any class C
committee. 30
III. Full Committee Chairmanships
A.Basic Limitation: A Senator may not serve as chair of more than one committee
(standing, select, special, or joint) except:31
1.Joint Committees: A Senator who serves as chair of a standing committee
may also chair a joint committee, the jurisdiction of which is directly related
to that of the standing committee.32
2.Certain Select Committees: The Select Committee on Ethics and the Select
Committee on Indian Affairs are exempt from this limitation. Thus a
Senator may chair another committee in addition to chairing one, or33
theoretically both, of these select committees.
B.Republican Term Limits: A Senator shall not serve more than six years as chair
and six years as ranking member of any standing committee, effective in January34
C.Republican Limitations: A Senator shall not serve as chair or ranking member
of a standing committee other than Rules and Administration and as a chair or
28Rule XXV, par. 4(b)(2).
29Rule XXV, par. 4(b)(3).
30Senate rules imposed no limit on the number of subcommittee assignments that
Senators are permitted on class C committees. The number of subcommittees a class C
committee may create is indirectly limited, however, by the subcommittee chairmanship
limitation. That is, the rule limits the number of subcommittees a committee may create to
the number of majority party Senators on the committees, assuming minority party Senators
do not serve as subcommittee chairs. (See Rule XXV, par. 4(a) and (b)).
31Rule XXV, par. 4(e)(1).
32Rule XXV, par. 4(e)(1).
33S.Res. 338 (88th Cong., 7/24/64), as amended by S.Res. 4 (95th Cong., 2/4/77, secs.
34History, Rules and Precedents of the Senate Republican Conference, 106th Congress,
October 1999 edition.
ranking member of another standing committee or subcommittee.
Appropriations subcommittee assignments are exempt.35
IV. Subcommittee Chairmanships
A.Basic Limitation: A Senator may not chair more than one subcommittee on any
single committee (standing, select, special or joint) of which he or she is a
member.36
B.Additional Limitations on Committee Chairs:
1.Class A Committee Chairmen: A class A committee chair may not chair
more than one subcommittee of all the subcommittees on his or her class
A committees. That is, the Senator may chair a subcommittee on only one
of his or her class A assignments. Furthermore, the Senator may not chair
more than one subcommittee on each of his or her class B committees.37
2.Class B Committee Chairs: A class B committee chairman may not chair
any subcommittee on his or her class B committee—presumably the
Senator’s only class B assignment. Furthermore, the Senator may not chair38
more than one subcommittee on each of his or her class A committees.
C.Republican Limitations:
1)A Senator shall not serve as chair or ranking member of a standing
committee other than Rules and Administration and as a chair or ranking
member of another standing committee or subcommittee. Appropriations
subcommittee assignments are exempt.39
35 Ibid.
36Rule XXV, par. 4(e)(2). In effect, his rule limits the number of subcommittees a
committee may create to the number of majority-party Senators on the committee, assuming
minority party Senators do not serve as subcommittee chairs.
37Rule XXV, par. 4(e)(3). Since par. 4(e)(2) limits all Senators to no more than one
subcommittee chairmanship on any of their committees, the proviso in the first sentence of
par. 4(e)(3) that chairs of class A committees may chair only one subcommittee on each of
their class B assignments appears to be redundant.
38Rule XXV, par. 4(e)(3). Since par. 4(e)(2) limits all Senators to no more than one
subcommittee chairmanship on any of their committees, the proviso in the second sentence of
par. 4(e)(3) that chairmen of class B committees may chair only one subcommittee on each
of their class A assignments appears to be redundant.
39History, Rules and Precedents of the Senate Republican Conference, 106th Congress,
October 1999 edition.
2)A Senator may not serve as chair or ranking member of more than two
subcommittees. 40
40 Ibid.