Select and joint committees are chiefly for oversight or housekeeping tasks. The chair of each committee and a majority of its members come from the majority party. The chair primarily controls a committee's business. Each party is predominantly responsible for assigning its members to committees, and each committee distributes its members among its subcommittees. There are limits on the number and types of panels any one Member may serve on and chair.
Committees receive varying levels of operating funds and employ varying numbers of aides.
Each hires and fires its own staff. Whereas most committee staff and resources are controlled by its majority party members, a portion is shared with the minority. Several thousand measures are referred to committees during each Congress. Committees select a small percentage for consideration, and those not addressed often receive no further action. Determining the fate of measures and, in effect, helping to set a chamber's agenda make committees powerful.