Committees from the Leadership Perspective

Party leaders and committee leaders in the United States Congress, while sometimes adversaries, are more often collaborators in the legislative process. Much congressional research has centered upon committee structure and operations; another extensive focus of study has been party leadership. Unfortunately, we have only a rudimentary knowledge about the range of possible relationships between party leaders and committee leaders. This paper explores several alternative, if not supplementary, mechanisms for strengthening the party leadership and committee structure in the House of Representatives. First, it outlines some developments taking place in the House Democratic Caucus during the opening months of the 93rd Congress—1973 to 1974. Second, the paper speculates on the implications of creating two new supracommittees—a Committee on the Budget and a Committee on the Agenda—adding the party leadership and bringing about a wholesale consolidation of the remaining House committees. Neither House nor Senate committee structure and jurisdiction can be analyzed in a vacuum: what affects committee powers will obviously have an effect on party leadership. It does not follow, however, that relationships between party leaders and committee leaders are a zero sum game in which the gains of one are necessarily the losses of the other. On the contrary, it may be possible to strengthen party leadership, to enhance the organization and the effectiveness of the committees and, ultimately, to increase the overall powers of the Congress.