the.com/us congressional committees
where bills go to die, mutate, or occasionally become laws, mostly the first one.
means smaller groups of lawmakers who do the actual homework, hearings, and haggling before a bill ever reaches a full floor vote.
from the first congress in 1789 quickly realized 65 people cannot draft legislation together, so it started farming out work to select committees, and by the early 1800s standing committees became permanent fixtures of house and senate life.
graveyard rateover 90 percent of bills die in committee
chair powerchairs control scheduling, often more than party leaders
seniority rulescommittee assignments long decided by tenure, not merit
conference committeesreconcile house and senate versions before final passage
for instance
house judiciary committee — handled both nixon and trump impeachment proceedings
senate armed services — oversees a 800 billion dollar defense budget yearly
house un-american activities — ran mccarthy-era loyalty hearings through the 1950s
ways and means — writes all federal tax law, dating to 1789