Congressional Committees

Committees decide which bills and resolutions move forward to consideration by the House or Senate as a whole. Committee chairs have enormous influence over this process.

#protip: To track upcoming committee meetings, check out Congress.gov’s committee meetings calendar.

Senate Committees

• Aging

  The Senate Special Committee on Aging conducts a continuing study of issues related to older Americans such as health, income, lifestyle, and more. The committee reports its findings ...

• Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry

  The Senate Committee on Agriculture has legislative jurisdiction over agriculture, food, and nutrition.

• Appropriations

  The Senate Committee on Appropriations is responsible for legislation allocating federal funds prior to expenditure from the treasury. Appropriations are generally limited to the levels set by the ...

• Armed Services

  The Senate Committee on Armed Services has legislative jurisdiction over military and defense.

• Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs

  The Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs not only has legislative jurisdiction on the topics listed in its name, but also on a range of other ...

• Budget

  The Senate Committee on the Budget is responsible for drafting a concurrent resolution on the budget for congressional action on spending, revenue, and debt-limit legislation. The Budget Resolution ...

• Commerce, Science, and Transportation

  The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation has legislative jurisdiction on matters related to science and technology, oceans policy, transportation, communications, and consumer affairs.

• Energy and Natural Resources

  The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources has legislative jurisdiction on matters related to energy resources and development, nuclear energy, Indian affairs, public lands and their renewable ...

• Environment and Public Works

  The Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works has legislative jurisdiction on matters related to environmental protection, resource utilization and conservation, and public infrastructure.

• Ethics

  The Senate Select Committee on Ethics is authorized to receive and investigate allegations of improper conduct which may reflect upon the Senate, violations of law, violations of the ...

• Finance

  The Senate Committee on Finance has legislative jurisdiction on matters relating to taxation, debt, customs, foreign trade, and health programs under the Social Security Act such as Medicare, ...

• Foreign Relations

  The Senate Committee on Foreign Relations was established in 1816 as one of the original ten standing committees of the Senate. Throughout its history, the committee has been ...

• Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

  The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions has jurisdiction over most of the agencies, institutes, and programs of the Department of Health and Human Services, including ...

• Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

  The Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs is the Senate’s primary oversight committee with broad jurisdiction over government operations generally and the Department of Homeland Security ...

• Indian Affairs

  The Senate Committee on Indian Affairs has jurisdiction to study the unique problems of American Indian, Native Hawaiian, and Alaska Native peoples and to propose legislation to alleviate ...

• Intelligence

  The Senate Committee on Intelligence was created to study the intelligence activities and programs of the United States Government and report to the Senate concerning such intelligence activities ...

• Judiciary

  The Senate Committee on the Judiciary provides oversight of the Department of Justice and the agencies under the Department's jurisdiction, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the ...

• Rules and Administration

  The Senate Committee on Rules and Administration has legislative jurisdiction over the organization and operation of Congress. This includes matters such as congressional rules and procedures, corruption, the ...

• Small Business and Entrepreneurship

  The Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship has legislative jurisdiction over the Small Business Administration (SBA). The SBA is an independent federal agency meant to assist and ...

• United States Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control

  The Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control was created to “monitor and encourage United States Government and private programs seeking to expand international cooperation against drug abuse and ...

• Veterans' Affairs

  The Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs has legislative jurisdiction over matters relating to veterans compensation and veterans generally, as well as matters relating to the vocational rehabilitation, education, ...

House Committees

• Agriculture

  The House Committee on Agriculture has legislative jurisdiction over agriculture, food, rural development, and forestry.

• Appropriations

  The House Committee on Appropriations is responsible for legislation allocating federal funds prior to expenditure from the treasury. Appropriations are generally limited to the levels set by the ...

• Armed Services

  The House Committee on Armed Services has legislative jurisdiction over military and defense.

• Budget

  The House Committee on the Budget is responsible for drafting a concurrent resolution on the budget for congressional action on spending, revenue, and debt-limit legislation. The Budget Resolution ...

• Climate Crisis

• Education and Labor

  The committee has legislative jurisdiction over matters related to higher and lower education, workforce development and protections, and health, employment, labor, and pensions.

• Energy and Commerce

  The House Committee on Energy and Commerce has legislative jurisdiction on matters related to telecommunications, consumer protection, food and drug safety, public health research, environmental quality, energy policy, ...

• Ethics

  The House Committee on Ethics has the jurisdiction to administer travel, gift, financial disclosure, outside income, and other regulations; advise members and staff; issue advisory opinions and investigate ...

• Financial Services

  The House Financial Services Committee has jurisdiction over issues pertaining to the economy, the banking system, housing, insurance, and securities and exchanges. Additionally, the Committee also has jurisdiction ...

• Foreign Affairs

  The House Committee on Foreign Affairs considers legislation that impacts the diplomatic community, which includes the Department of State, the Agency for International Development, the Peace Corps, the ...

• Homeland Security

  The House Committee on Homeland Security has jurisdiction over matters related to national defense. It has six subcommittees on border and maritime security; counterterrorism and intelligence; cybersecurity and ...

• House Administration

  The Committee on House Administration has legislative jurisdiction over the federal elections and the day-to-day operations of the House. The Committee's jurisdiction over federal elections requires it to ...

• Intelligence

  The United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) is a committee of the United States House of Representatives, currently chaired by Congressman Devin Nunes (California). Created ...

• Judiciary

  The Committee on the Judiciary has jurisdiction over matters relating to the administration of justice in federal courts, administrative bodies, and law enforcement agencies. Its role in impeachment ...

• Modernization of Congress

• Natural Resources

  The House Committee on Natural Resources considers legislation about American energy production, mineral lands and mining, fisheries and wildlife, public lands, oceans, Native Americans, irrigation and reclamation.

• Oversight and Reform

  The committee oversees the federal government and all of its agencies to ensure efficiency, effectiveness, and accountability. The Committee oversees government operations, health care, information technology, interior, energy ...

• Rules

  The House Committee on Rules is commonly known as “The Speaker’s Committee” because it is the mechanism that the Speaker uses to maintain control of the House Floor. ...

• Science, Space, and Technology

  The Committee on Science, Space, and Technology has a jurisdiction over a range of matters related to energy research and development, federally owned or operated non-military energy laboratories, ...

• Small Business

  The House Small Business Committee was established to protect and assist small businesses. As such, the Committee has jurisdiction over matters related to small business financial aid, regulatory ...

• Transportation and Infrastructure

  The Transportation and Infrastructure Committee has jurisdiction over all modes of transportation: aviation, maritime and waterborne transportation, highways, bridges, mass transit, and railroads. The Committee also has jurisdiction ...

• Veterans' Affairs

  The House Committee on Veterans' Affairs is the authorizing committee for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The committee is responsible for recommending legislation expanding, curtailing, or fine-tuning ...

• Ways and Means

  The Committee on Ways and Means is the chief tax-writing committee in the House of Representatives. The Committee derives a large share of its jurisdiction from Article I, ...

Joint Committees

The joint committees are made up of both senators and representatives. They typically have an oversight or policy role but no legislative duties.

• Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe

• Joint Committee on Printing

• Joint Committee on Taxation

• Joint Committee on the Library

• Joint Economic Committee

While the Joint Committees on Printing and the Library have nominal responsibility for oversight of the Government Publishing Office and the Library of Congress, respectively, the committees are essentially defunct and oversight takes place within the majority party leadership of each chamber.