House Standing Committee Chairs and Ranking Minority Members: Rules Governing Selection Procedures

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House rules, Republican Conference rules, and Democratic Caucus rules each detail aspects of
the procedures followed in selecting standing committee chairs and ranking minority members.
This report summarizes those procedures and lists membership on each party’s steering
committee. The report will be updated if rules or procedures change.

House Rule X, clause 5(c)(2), adopted in 1995 and effective immediately, limited committee (and
subcommittee) chairs to three-terms of consecutive service. Service for less than a full session in
a Congress is disregarded. A rules change adopted on January 7, 2003, pursuant to H.Res. 5,
exempted the Intelligence Committee chair from the limit. A rules change adopted on January 4,

2005, pursuant to H.Res. 5, exempted the Rules Committee chair from the limit.

Republican Conference rules delineate procedures for the selection of standing committee chairs
and ranking minority members. The Speaker, with the Republicans in the majority, has the
authority to nominate the chairs of the House Administration Committee and Rules Committee. In
the minority, this is performed by the minority leader. He names the ranking minority members
on these committees. The Speaker’s or minority leader’s nominations for these two positions are
submitted directly to the full Republican Conference for ratification. If the conference rejects the
leader’s nominee, the Speaker or minority leader has the authority to submit another name to the
conference.
All other standing committee chairs or ranking minority members are nominated by the
Republican Steering Committee and ratified by the full Republican Conference. Pursuant to
conference rules, the Member nominated to be chair or ranking minority member does not need to ^th
be the Member with the longest continuous service on the committee. In the 111 Congress, the
Steering Committee “interviewed” prospective candidates for ranking slots. Some of the new
ranking members were the most senior members of the committee, others were not.
The Steering Committee is composed of party leaders, selected committee leaders, class leaders,
and regional representatives. The Steering Committee is reconstituted each Congress. Regions are
restructured to reflect as closely as possible an equal number of Republican Members from each
region. Each region elects its Steering Committee member. If Steering Committee members are
elected from states that have four or more Republican members, a “small state” group is triggered
to also elect a member to the Steering Committee; the small state group is composed of states that
have three or fewer Republican members. Table 1 depicts the membership of the Republican ^th
Steering Committee for the 111 Congress.
Table 1. Republican Steering Committee
^{Designated Representati}^ve^{Member Serving in 111}^th^Cong^ress^Comments
^{Republican Leade}^r^{John Boehn}^er^{Has 5 votes in}^{Steering Committee}
^{Minority Whip}^{Eric Cantor}^{Has 2 votes}
^{Chief Deputy}^Whip^{Kevin McCart}^hy
^{Republican Confe}^ren^{ce Chair}^{Mike Pence}
^{Republican Confe}^ren^{ce Vice Chair}^{Cathy Mc}^{Morris-Rogers}
^{Republican Confe}^ren^{ce Secretary}^{John Carte}^r
^{Republican Policy Chair}^{Thad McCotter}

^th^Comments
^{Designated Representati}^ve^{Member Serving in 111}^Cong^ress
^{NRCC Chair,110}^th^Congres^s^{Tom Cole}
^{NRCC Chair, 11}¹^th^Congre^ss^{Pete Sessions}
^Approp^{riations Committee ranking}^{Jerry L}^ewis
^member
^Energ^{y and Commerc}^{e Committee}^{Joe Barton}
^{ranking mem}^ber
^{Financial Services Committee ran}^king^{Doc Hastings}
^member
^{Rules Committee ranking mem}^be^r^{David Dreier}
^{Ways and Mea}^{ns Committee ra}ⁿ^king^{Dave Camp}
^member
^{California Representative}^{Ken Calvert}
^{Texas Represe}^ntative^{Lamar Smith}
^{Florida Representative}^{Jeff Miller}
^{Region I Representative}^{Doc Hastings}^{Washington, Oregon, Alaska, Idaho,}
^{Montana, Nevada, Utah, Arizona,}
^{New Me}^{xico, Wyoming, Co}^lorad^o
^{Region II Represe}^ntative^{Lee Terry}^{Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebra}^ska,
^{Wisconsin, Minnesota}
^{Region III Represe}^ntative^{John Shimku}^s^{Iowa, Missouri, Ill}^{inois, Arkansas}
^{Region IV Representative}^{Mike Rogers}^{Michigan, Indiana, Tenne}^ssee
^{Region V Representative}^{John M}^cHug^h^{Deleware, New York, New Jerse}^y,
^Pennsylvania
^{Region VI Representative}^{Steve LaTourette}^{Maryland, Ohio, Virginia}
^{Region VII Representative}^{Hal Rogers}^{Alabama, Kentucky, Louisiana,}
^{Mississippi, West Virginia}
^{Region VIII Represe}^ntative^{John Linder}^{Georgia, North Carolina, South}
^Carolina

^{Small State Representative}^{Mike Simpson}^{Alaska, Arkansas,Colorad}^o,
^{Delaware, Idaho, Maryland,}
^{Mississippi, Montana, Nevada,}
^{Oregon, Utah, West Virginia,}
^Wyoming
¹¹⁰^th^{Class Repr}^esentative^{Adrian Smith}
¹¹¹^th^{Class Repr}^esentative^{Gregg Ha}^rper

Democratic Caucus rules address selecting committee chairs and ranking minority members. The
Democratic leader nominates a chair/ranking member for the Committees on Rules and House
Administration, who must be approved by the entire Democratic Caucus. The Budget Committee
chair/ranking member is selected from among members choosing to run for the position. Other

chair/ranking member nominations are made by the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee
and voted on by the entire Democratic Caucus. In making selections, the Steering Committee
considers, pursuant to caucus rules, “merit, length of service on the committee and degree of
commitment to the Democratic agenda of the nominee, and the diversity of the Caucus.” The
Steering Committee is reconstituted each Congress, and regions can be restructured to reflect
equal Democratic representation among regions. The number of appointments made by the party
leader can also change. Table 2 depicts the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee as ^h
constituted at the beginning of the 111 Congress.
Table 2. Democratic Steering Committee
^h
^{Designated Representati}^ve^{Member Serving in the 11}¹^Cong^ress^Comments
^{Steering Committee Chair}^{Nancy Pelosi}
^{Steering Committee Co-Chair}^{Rosa DeLauro}
^Pol^{icy Committee Co-Chair}^{George Miller}
^{Vice-Chair Marion}^Berry
^{Vice-Chair Hilda}^So^lis
^{Whip James}^Clybu^rn
^{Democratic Caucus C}^hair^{John La}^rson
^{Democratic Caucus Vice-Chair}^{Xavier Becerra}
^{DCCC Chair}^{Chris Van Hollen}
^{Senior Chief Deputy W}^hip^{John Lewis}
^{Chief Deputy}^Whip^{Joe Crowley}
^{Chief Deputy}^Whip^{Diana DeGette}
^{Chief Deputy}^Whip^{G.K. Butterfield}
^{Chief Deputy}^Whip^{Ed Pastor}
^{Chief Deputy}^Whip^{John Tan}^ner
^{Chief Deputy}^Whip^{Maxine Water}^s
^{Chief Deputy}^Whip^{Debbie Wasserma}^{n Sch}^ultz
^{Chief Deputy}^Whip^{Jan Schakowsky}
^{Region I}^{Linda Sherman}^{Southern California: 21-5}³
^{Region II}^Jerry^McNe^rney^Norther^{n California: 1-20; Hawai}^i,
^{American Samoa, Guam, Alaska,}
^{Marianas Islands}
^{Region III}^{Tammy Baldwin}^{Michigan, Minne}^{sota, Wisconsin,}
^{Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota,}
^Nebras^ka
^{Region IV}^{Jan Schakowsky}^Illinois^{, Indiana, Kansas, Missouri,}
^Oklahoma
^{Region V}^{Rick Larsen}^Colorad^{o, Utah, Montana, Wyoming,}
^{North Dakota, Oregon, Washing}^ton,
^{Nevada, Idaho}
^{Region VI}^{Eddie Bernice Johnso}ⁿ^{Texas, Arizona, New Mexico}

^h^Comments
^{Designated Representati}^ve^{Member Serving in the 11}¹^Cong^ress
^{Region VII}^{Bob Etheridge}^{Louisiana, Tennessee, Arka}^nsas,
^{North Carolina, South Carolina}
^{Region VIII}^{Ron Klein}^{Georgia, Flori}^{da, Alabama,}
^{Mississippi, Virgin Islands, Puerto}
^Rico
^{Region IX}^{James Mora}ⁿ^{Maryland, New Je}^{rsey, West Virg}^inia,
^{Virginia, D}^.C.^{, Delaware}
^{Region X}^{Robert Brady}^{Ohio, Pennsylvania, Kentucky}
^{Region XI}^{Jerrold Nadler}^{New York}
^{Region XII}^{John Tierney}^{Connecticut, Maine, Ma}^ssach^uset^ts,
^{Rhode Island, New Hamp}^shire,
^Vermont
^Approp^{riations Committee Chair}^{David Obey}
^{Budget Committee Chair}^{John Spratt}
^Energ^{y and Commerc}^{e Committee}^{Henry Wa}^xman
^Chair
^{Financial Services Committee Chair}^{Barney Fra}^nk
^{Rules Committee Chair}^{Louis Slaughter}
^{Ways and Mea}^{ns Committee Ch}^air^{Charles Rangel}
^{Organization Study and Review}^{Mike Capua}^no
^{(OSR) Chair}
^Freshman^Represe^ntative^{Jared Polis}
^Membe^{rs ap}^{pointed by Democra}^tic^{Dennis Cardoza}
^Leader^{Kathy Castor}
^{Jerry Costello}
^{Artur Davis}
^{Lloyd Doggett}
^{Debbie Halvorson}
^{Rush Holt}
^{Marcy Kap}^tur
^{Zoe Lofgren}
^{Doris Matsui}
^{Kendrick Meek}
^Coll^{in Peterson}
^{Tim Ryan}
^{Nydia Velazquez}

^Ju^dy^S^c^hn^ei^der
^Specialis^{t on}^t^h^{e C}^oⁿ^g^r^es^s
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