House Committee Party Ratios: 98th-115th Congresses
Released: 2018-11-08T00:00:00

Introduction

The party ratio in a House of Representatives standing committee refers to the proportional number of members of each party caucus assigned to each committee. Determining sizes, ratios, and committee assignments are among the first actions taken following a general election and at the beginning of a Congress.

The Standing Rules of the House of Representatives are silent regarding committee sizes and party ratios; the apportionment of committee seats is a decision of the majority leadership that may include discussions between majority and minority party leaderships occurring during early organization meetings. Historically, the number of majority seats on some committees has exceeded, in varying degrees, the strength of the majority party in the House chamber, regardless of which party has been in power. This generally has ensured that the majority party has a sufficient number of members distributed across committees to control voting in many committees. The exception has been the House Committee on Ethics (known as the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct prior to the 112 th Congress), for which House Rules guarantee an equal share of the seats to the two parties.

This report shows House committee party ratios for 18 Congresses from the 98 th Congress (1983-1985) through the beginning of the 115 th Congress (2017-2019). Tables for each Congress include the standing committees and a permanent select committee as established and named in each Congress. An additional table ( Table 1 ) provides a comparison of majority party strength in the House chamber and total committee seats.

Sources and Method

The data presented in this report are drawn from the official lists of standing committees and any permanent select committees published by the Clerk of the House early in each Congress. The data reflect the full number of seats assigned to each party, even in instances when some assignments made by a party left seats unfilled. Data on overall party strength in the House are taken from historical tables in the 2009-2010 Official Congressional Directory, 11 1 th Congress , for the 98 th through 111 th Congresses. The data for the 112 th -115 th Congresses are from the Clerk of the House website.

Independent Members are listed separately, consistent with the Clerk's committee lists. The Delegates representing American Samoa, the District of Columbia, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands, as well as the Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico, are included in the figures for total number of committee seats. They are not included in total House data; total House data and percentages are based on 435 Members. For most Congresses, the total party division numbers reflect party strength after the November elections; they do not reflect changes due to deaths or resignations followed by special elections, or changes in party affiliation after the beginning of the Congress.

Table 1 shows a comparison of majority party strength in the House chamber with total majority committee seats for the 98 th Congress through the 115 th Congress. Unfilled seats on committees (if so noted in the Clerk's lists) are counted in individual and overall committee totals for consistency.

Tables 2-1 9 show for each of the 18 Congresses examined, by majority, minority, and Independents (where present)

House party breakdown and majority margin; total committee seats, majority and minority committee seats, and majority margin; the standing and select committees (with legislative jurisdiction) as established and named in each Congress; committee seats allocated to the majority and minority parties, including Independents (where present), for each committee; and majority-minority seat margin for each committee.