From the Congressional Glossary – Including Legislative and Budget Terms
Joint Committee
Committees including membership from both the House and the Senate. A joint committee may be investigative or research oriented. Joint committees are usually established with narrow jurisdictions and normally lack authority to report legislation. As of 2018 only five joint committees remain: Joint Committee on Printing, Joint Committee of Congress on the Library, Joint Committee on Taxation, Joint Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, and Joint Economic Committee.
None has the authority to report legislation. Standing joint committees are permanent joint committees established by law. The law fixes the number of the majority and minority members from each chamber. Chairmanship usually alternates between the House and Senate members from Congress to Congress.
The Joint Committee on Taxation plays an important role in estimating the budgetary effect of tax legislation.
Also see
- Congress by the Numbers
- § 5.81, House and Joint Committee Ratios in the 112th Congress, in Congressional Deskbook
- Chapter 1.H. Congressional Committees; Chapter 3.B. Committees and Subcommittees; in Congressional Procedure
More
- Records of Joint Committees of the U.S. Congress – National Archives
- Joint Committee on Printing – House
- Joint Committee of Congress on the Library – House
- Joint Committee on Taxation
- Joint Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies
- Joint Economic Committee – Senate
- “Committee Types and Roles,” CRS Report 98-241 (6-page PDF
) - “Committee Numbers, Sizes, Assignments, and Staff: Selected Historical Data,” CRS Report 96-109 (33-page PDF)
- “History of the Joint Committee on Reduction of Non-Essential Federal Expenditures (1941-1974), with Observations on Oversight Today,” CRS Report R41465 (27-page PDF)
- “Commissions and Joint Committees Established to Commemorate the Anniversary of the Birth of a President or First Lady, 1950-2000,” CRS Report RL30980 (73-page PDF)
- “History and Authority of the Joint Economic Committee,” CRS Report R41519 (7-page PDF)
- “Government Printing, Publications, and Digital Information Management: Issues and Challenges,” CRS Report R45014 (24-page PDF)
- “Summary of Joint Committee on Taxation’s Staff Proposals Relating to Charitable Contributions,” CRS Report RS22213 (5-page PDF)
- “Legislative Branch: Fiscal Year 2018 Appropriations,” CRS Report R44899 (43-page PDF)
- “Locate an Agency or Program Within Appropriations Bills,” CRS Report R40858 (17-page PDF)
Courses
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Publications
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Congressional Procedure
CongressionalGlossary.com, from TheCapitol.Net
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