US Example Essay - Committees and Congress

Here is an exemplar essay on the relationship between Committees and Congress.

DISCUSS THE VIEW THAT COMMITTEES ARE THE REAL POWERHOUSE OF THE CONGRESS

It was significant that the recent government shutdown was ultimately resolved by a conference committee with members from both the House and the Senate. This would suggest that congressional committees have a key role to play in the Congress. However, the rise of the Tea Party Caucus would suggest that other factors can be regarded as the key sources of power in the Congress.

The importance of congressional committees is clearly demonstrated by an examination of the legislative process. Thousands of bills are proposed each year but the fact of the matter is a mere 5% are successful. This failure rate is largely explained by the work of congressional committees. Committee Chairmen are very powerful. They can “pigeonhole” a bill which effectively means a bill will die or the committee can amend and add other bills to the initial proposal changing the original beyond all recognition. “Earmarks” are added during the committee stage which relate to additional spending clauses being added during this committee stage. The House Rules Committee timetables all bills for debate on the floor of the chamber and consequently has a critical role to play in determining whether a bill will succeed or fail. Similarly the Appropriations Committees in the House and Senate determine spending limits on government which means they have a crucial role to play in both the budgetary and legislative process. The ways and Means Committee play a similar role with regard to taxation and consequently have a vital role to play too.

Congressional committees have a key role to play in the oversight of the executive and help Congress fulfil its scrutiny function. Standing committees are permanent and not only conduct the committee stage of the legislative process but also investigate policy areas relating to policy area. They conduct hearings and can call witnesses. They are very well resourced and prestigious and thus carry more weight and influence than their UK departmental select committees. Congressional Select Committees are established when standing committees can’t cope with the scale of an investigation of when an issue crosses several policy areas. The House recently voted for a special committee on the attack on the US embassy in Libya 2012.

Congressional committees also serve a vital role in checking the executive. Senate committees help ratify appointments such as the Senate Judicial Committee recommending that the whole Senate endorse recent appointments of Kagan and Sotomayor. Similarly Janet Yellen was interviewed by the Senate Budget Committee. The Senate Armed Services Committee and Foreign Relations Committee have a critical role in checking the president’s exercise of foreign policy.

Congressional committees have made the legislative process much more difficult. Following the Nixon presidency and Watergate scandal, congressional reforms have led to the proliferation of sub-committees. This has made Congress much more nebulous as committee chairs no longer wield such great power, power is now distributed more widely. From a presidential perspective this shows how the committees make working with the Congress much more difficult and proves that committees (and sub-committees) are the real powerhouse of Congress.

However, the notion that committees are real powerhouse of Congress can be challenged. Party leaders have an increasingly important role to play. Speaker Boehner and Minority leader Pelosi have a key role to play in organising party strategies and policies in the House. The same applies to their counterparts in the House and Senate where Reid is Senate Majority Leader and McConnell is Senate Minority leader.

The fact that Congress is so fragmented also means that committees do not play such a critical role. Voting in the Congress is arguably determined by pleasing the “folks back home” and “fat cat” donors to election campaign funds following recent rulings from the Supreme Court in the Citizens United and McCutcheon cases. This results in a weak party system in the legislative branch meaning that committees cannot be described as powerhouses. Indeed Congress can be regarded as “broken branch of government” in that it does not function effectively. This creates a leadership vacuum which results in a symbiotic relationship with the president. Congressional committees are incapable of providing effective leadership and consequently Congress needs the president to provide a budget and a raft of legislative proposals.

It could be argued that the floors of the chambers are the real powerhouse of the Congress. With regard to appointments, committees make recommendations but the final decision rests with the whole Senate. Two thirds majorities are needed in the Senate for Treaties and simple majorities in both chambers to approve legislation, a presidential veto needs two thirds in both chambers as does an impeachment; constitutional amendments need two thirds in both chambers (and ¾ of the states). The power of committees is then balanced by the power of the chambers as a whole.

It was President Wilson who said “Congress in session is Congress on show, Congress in committee is Congress at work”. It is true committees do play a greater role than their UK counterparts of public bill committees and departmental select committees, but to suggest that they are the real powerhouse of the Congress is to underestimate the roles played by congressional leadership, individual representatives and the president. Indeed if they were so powerful, would Congress be the “do nothing” Congress and legislative failure it has been described as in the Obama era?