Standing committees are groups appointed for a specific purpose and period of time by legislative bodies. The US Congress has numerous standing committees with specific jurisdictions, and each House establishes its own rules for them. Members are appointed by the ruling party, and committees delegate matters to subcommittees. They are critical for effective functioning, and chairs tend to be powerful. Legislative proposals require committee approval, and nominees for important positions must be confirmed by the Senate after consideration by the appropriate standing committee.
A standing committee is a group of members of a larger body, such as a legislative assembly or a members’ association, appointed for a specific purpose and, usually, for a specific period of time. In the United States Congress, both the House and the Senate establish numerous standing committees, each with its own specific jurisdiction. For example, the Senate Judiciary Commission is a permanent commission that examines all legislative proposals in the judicial field. The committee typically reports its findings to the full Senate for that body’s action, or simply presents it &emdash; that is, the group issues no report, essentially killing it.
The standing committees of the Houses of Congress are established not by the Constitution of the United States, but by the rules that each House establishes by Constitutional mandate. Article X of the House of Representatives establishes 20 standing committees, and Article XXV of the Senate establishes 16 standing committees. A standing commission itself may have subcommittees that deal with more specific issues; for example, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions has three subcommittees, one on children and families, another on employment and occupational safety, and a third on retirement and aging. Most committees in each House have subcommittees.
Members of the standing committees and their subcommittees are appointed by the leadership of the ruling party in each house. Whenever possible, members’ preferences are taken into consideration when committee assignments are made, but these assignments are also often used to reward or punish members. There will usually be more members of the majority party in each standing committee than the minority party, and committee chairs are elected by simple majority, with the result that committees in each House are almost always chaired by a member of the majority party.
Standing committees are a critical component of Congress, without which it could not function effectively. With so many issues being presented to Congress every day, it is impractical for the full Assembly or the full Senate to try to address each of them in the kind of detail needed. By delegating all matters to the appropriate standing committee or subcommittee, congress establishes an orderly workflow and division of labor and limits the matters it deals with to those assigned that priority by the committees themselves.
Standing committees and their chairs tend to be powerful in the United States Legislature, as do committees and their chairs in most U.S. state legislatures and legislatures around the world. A legislative proposal cannot normally be considered by the entire body, for example, without the approval of the committee responsible for the matter, and the committee cannot consider it unless the president places it on the agenda. Additionally, individuals nominated by the president to important positions in government cannot assume office until they have been confirmed by the Senate, a process that can only occur after the appropriate standing committee has considered the nomination and passed it. in the Senate.
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