Evening star., 1938-11-16
Congress 10 Rebuild
Committees Torn by
Election Shifts
PorIeys Expected to Set
Rotio of Parties at
About so to 40
By WILL p. KENNEDY.

the memberships of the more impor-
tant House committees and chair
manships of eight Of them vacated.
Decreased Democratic representa-
ton on major committees Is
impending, and the more evenly
balanced committee personnel is
expected to result in more careful
scrutiny of legislative proposals be-
fore they reach the floor for consid-
Grafton by a better balanced party
division.
It is probable that at least II
House committee chairmanships Will
be changed. Those already vacant
are: Rules, Post Office and Post
Roads, District of Columbia, Census.
Printing, Pensions, War Claims and
Revision of the Laws.
Third Party Factor Fades.
Third party consideration is prac-
tically wiped out. with only two
Progressives and one Farm-Labor
party adherent elected, and with the
leaders of both groups defeated for
reelection. The Democrats have
retained more than go per cent
of the House membership and the
Republicans have increased to, over
80 per cent.
Speaker Bankhead and House
Leader Rayburn have announced
that they will not return to the Cap
itol until after Christmas. Chair
man Martin of the Republican Con-
gressional Committee, who probably
will be the Republican leader in the
incoming Congress, has left town but
is figuring the percentage OF repre-
sentation which the Republicans Will
demand on the more important
House committees.
It is practically certain that the
roster of the major committees will
be reduced, thus making effective
more intensive study OF the leglsla-
tive proposals.
In the Seventy-fourth Congress,
the House increased the membership
of the Appropriations Committee
from IS to &c. of the Interstate and
Foreign Commerce Committee to q.
and of the Rules Committee to IA,
so as to provide some committee
posts for all the members of the un-
precedented Democratic majority.
The party division in the Appro-
priations Committee formerly was
set at 20 to Is. whereas in the last
Congress it was % to II. The Ways
and Means (tax and tariff Com
mittee is supposed to be divided on
party lines Is to 10.
60-40 Ratio May Result.
In the incoming Congress nego-
tiations between the representatives
of the two major parties is expected
to result in a division of places on
the principal committees approx
mately corresponding to the ratio
of House membership between these
two parties, or something like 60
to 90.
This is the major organization
problem for the incoming Congress,
because it is anticipated that Repre-
sentative Martin will be practically
unopposed for minority leader.
Committee chairmanships are to
be filled under the long-standing
seniority rule. While there are his
toric instances in which individuals
have been drafted for chairman of
certain enthusiastically when
the Republicans shifted the late
Representative Martin B. Madden
from Post Office and Post Roads to
become chairman of the Appropri-
ations Committee as successor to the
late Representative James w. Good
Of Iowa, later Secretary of War. It
now is believed that Representative
Adolph j. SABBATH of Illinois, dean
of the House, will succeed John j.
O'Connor, the sole victim of the
Presidents purge" as chairman of
the important Rules Committee.
The one super committee of the
House is Appropriations, with IS
members, under the standing rules
of the House, the normal division
being 20 members of the majority
party and Is of the minority party
1t is probable that in the reorgani-
zation program the old party pro-
portion will be restored. There are
now five Democratic vacancies and
one Republican, so the Democratic
representation has been cut to %
and in the interparty parleys may
be reduced two more. while the Re-
publican membership, according to
the 60-40 proportion, should be in
creased three places.
Four Rules Vacancies.
The Rules Committee is expected
to go back to the established pro-
portion of to 4, instead of 10 to 4
in the last Congress. There are four
vacancies in the Democratic men,
bership, while the Republican men,
bership of four is still held intact.
The membership of the Ways and
Means Committee in the last Con-
gress was % Democrats and Z Re-
publicans. Under the new propor-
ton of 60-40. this should be Is to
10. There are seven Democratic
vacancies as a result of the election
and one Republican. So three more
Democrats may be appointed and
four Republicans.
The vacancies by committees are
as follows: Accounts, two Demo-
Gratis; Agriculture. four Democrats,
one Republican; Banking and Cur
rency, seven Democrats; Census,
four Democrats, including the chair
manship; Civil Service, five Demo-
Gratis, one Republican,; Claims, four
Democrats. one Republican,; Coin
age, Weights and Measures, five
Democrats, one Republican,; Dispo-
sition of Executive Papers. one DEM
ocrat (chairman); District of Co.
lumbia, six Democrats; Education,
seven Democrats; Electrion of Presi-
dent, Vice President and Repre-
sentatives, four Democrats; Elec-
tions No. /, one Democrat; Elec-
tions No. 2, three Democrats; Elec-
tions No. 3, two Democrats; En-
rolled Bills, one Democrat, one Re-
publican; Expenditures in the Ex-
ecutive Department, seven Demo-
te.