All Senate committees must adopt rules of procedure, unless exempted from doing so, and publish them in the Congressional Record by March 1 of the first year of a new Congress. An amendment to a committee's rules during a two-year Congress does not take effect until the amendment is published in the Congressional Record . If the Senate establishes a committee after February 1 of the first year of a new Congress, the rules of that committee must be published in the Congressional Record not later than 60 days after the establishment of the committee. A committee's rules must be "not inconsistent" with the Senate's rules. (Rule XXVI, paragraph 2.) A committee typically adopts the rules that were in effect in the previous Congress, with any change agreed to by the committee usually being incremental. A committee's rules develop over time and fit the jurisdiction, practices, and culture of a committee, leaving little reason for major changes, even when control of the Senate changes. A change in a Senate rule or standing order might cause committees to reexamine their rules. Many Senate rules, standing orders, and other decisions of the Senate, such as committee funding, affect committees' conduct of their legislative and executive business. However, the two principal Senate rules related to committees' activities are Rule XXV, which contains committees' jurisdictions, and Rule XXVI, which details committee procedures. A number of committees specifically acknowledged the primacy of Senate rules in their own rules. These were the Committees on Armed Services; Energy and Natural Resources; Foreign Relations; Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions; Small Business and Entrepreneurship; Veterans' Affairs; and Indian Affairs. Some of these committees' rules also acknowledged the preeminence of Senate resolutions and the Legislative Reorganization Acts of 1946 and 1970. The Foreign Relations Committee, in addition, made its Rule I its jurisdictional statement from Rule XXV, paragraph 1(j). Most committees appended their jurisdictional statements to their rules. In addition to their rules, some committees have adopted resolutions, manuals, and other guidance that may affect their operations. The primary legislative function of the standing committees of the U.S. Senate is to evaluate the thousands of bills and resolutions that Senators introduce in each two-year Congress, which are normally referred upon introduction to the appropriate committee, and measures passed by the House. Senate committees also annually evaluate thousands of executive nominations, and the Foreign Relations Committee has jurisdiction over treaties submitted by the President for the advice and consent of the Senate. This report catalogues and compares the rules in the 114 th Congress of the 18 Senate committees with legislative authority—committees having authority to report legislation to the Senate. The report is organized topically rather than by Senate rule or paragraph of a Senate rule or by committee. Broad topics based principally on provisions of Senate Rule XXVI, such as committee meetings, are divided into more specific topics, such as regular meeting days, additional committee meetings, and meetings initiated by committee members. Topics also include nominations, treaties, and related responsibilities covered by committees' rules. All these topics might be further divided. For most topics, a summary of the relevant provision or provisions of any Senate rule appears first. This summary is followed by an explanation and a comparison of individual committees' rules, which appear in both text and tables. Relevant provisions of standing orders applicable to all committees or specific committees, which pertain to legislative or executive business, are also cited. The report is not intended to be read from beginning to end but might be used by chairs, ranking minority members, and committee staff considering amendments to rules, by committee members and their legislative staff seeking to increase their knowledge of committee rules, and by new Senators and staff building procedural knowledge. The principal headings in the report are as follows: " Subcommittees " " Committee Meetings " " Quorum Requirements " " Open and Closed Meetings " " Hearing Procedures " " Oversight " " Referral of Legislation " " Markup Procedures " " Voting in Committee " " Reports " " Nominations " " Foreign Relations Committee's Treaty Procedures " " Committees' Other, Related Responsibilities " " Committee Records " A Senate rule prohibits committees from creating a subunit of a committee other than a subcommittee in the absence of permission from the Senate granted by a resolution. (Rule XXV, paragraph 4(b)(4).) The Budget; Rules and Administration; Veterans' Affairs; and Indian Affairs Committees made no mention of subcommittees in their rules. A Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee rule stated that the committee would have no standing subcommittees. The Environment and Public Works and Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committees' rules established and named their standing subcommittees. The Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs; Foreign Relations; and Intelligence Committees' rules stated that subcommittees may be created by a majority of the committee; the Foreign Relations and Intelligence Committees specified a majority vote. The Finance Committee's rule stated that the chair of the committee, with the approval of the committee, would appoint subcommittees. The rule also provided that the ranking minority member would recommend minority appointments to the chair. The rule of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee provided for consultation on subcommittee sizes and ratios between the chair and ranking minority member. The Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee's rules allowed the creation of ad hoc subcommittees by the chair upon consultation with the ranking minority member. Additionally, the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and Intelligence Committees' rules allowed these committees' subcommittees to adopt their own rules, subject to limits in the committees' rules. A rule of the Armed Services Committee authorized its subcommittees to meet, hold hearings, receive evidence, and report to the committee on all matters referred to them. A rule of the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee dealt only with the eventuality of a change in chairmanship. Despite the unique importance of its subcommittees, the only rule of the Appropriations Committee specifically applicable to its subcommittees was a rule on the availability of subcommittee reports. (See, below, " Subcommittees' Reporting or Discharge .") Nearly every rule of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee used the phrase "the committee or a subcommittee." In contrast, the rules of the Judiciary Committee dealt specifically with only four aspects of subcommittee organization and authority. Several committees applied their rules to their subcommittees, in some instances noting to the extent applicable or not in conflict with specific committee rules related to subcommittee procedures. These committees were Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry; Armed Services; Foreign Relations; and Intelligence. The rule of the Agriculture Committee indicated the committee could authorize or limit subcommittee duties. Some committees' rules provided explicit direction on the functioning of subcommittees; other committees' rules did not provide specific direction. Some committees were selective in granting or limiting the authority of their subcommittees by establishing rules for the subcommittees that differed from those for the full committee. Committees' rules on their subcommittees are explored in the following four sections on " Subcommittee Membership and Participation ," " Subcommittees' Scheduling of Meetings and Hearings ," " Referral of Legislation to Subcommittees ," and " Subcommittees' Reporting or Discharge ." See also, below, " Oversight .") For a full understanding of a rule applicable to a subcommittee, a reader must check the parent committee's rule under the specific, relevant topic. Rule XXV, paragraph 4(b)(1) and (2) limits Senators' assignment to subcommittees. Senators may not serve on more than three subcommittees of so-called A committees, except for subcommittees of the Appropriations Committee. Senators may not serve on more than two subcommittees of so-called B committees. The rules for the Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry; Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs; Energy and Natural Resources; and Foreign Relations Committees provided that members of each committee would be assigned to subcommittees on the basis of seniority. No committee member would be assigned to a second subcommittee until all members were assigned to at least one subcommittee, and no member would be assigned to a third subcommittee until all members were assigned to two subcommittees. The Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee prohibited members from sitting on more than three subcommittees and from chairing more than one subcommittee. The Foreign Relations Committee prohibited members from sitting on more than four subcommittees. The Environment and Public Works Committee's rule provided that the chair would appoint subcommittee members after consulting the ranking minority member. The Finance Committee's rule stated explicitly that the ranking minority member would recommend to the chair the appointment of minority members to subcommittees. A rule of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee specified that the chair would consult the majority members and the ranking minority member before announcing subcommittee assignments. The Energy and Natural Resources Committee's rule stated that the chair of the full committee, upon consultation with the ranking minority member, would determine subcommittee sizes and ratios. The rules for the Commerce, Science, and Transportation and Judiciary Committees stated that subcommittees would be established de novo if a change in a chairmanship should occur. Under both committees' rules, seniority would "not necessarily apply." The Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs and Intelligence Committees' rules each had requirements for the selection of chairs of subcommittees. The Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee's rules stated that no member of the committee could chair more than one subcommittee. The Intelligence Committee's rules stipulated that the chair and vice chair of the full committee were responsible for choosing subcommittee chairs and vice chairs, respectively. Several committees' rules explicitly allowed, or allowed and limited, committee members' participation in hearings and meetings of subcommittees on which members did not serve.