United States House Committee on Ways and Means

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Committee on Ways and Means)
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Template:Short description Template:Use American English Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox legislature The Committee on Ways and Means is the chief tax-writing committee of the United States House of Representatives. The committee has jurisdiction over all taxation, tariffs, and other revenue-raising measures, as well as a number of other programs including Social Security, unemployment benefits, Medicare, the enforcement of child support laws, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, foster care, and adoption programs. Members of the Ways and Means Committee are not allowed to serve on any other House Committee unless they are granted a waiver from their party's congressional leadership. It has long been regarded as the most prestigious committee of the House of Representatives.[1]

The United States Constitution requires that all bills regarding taxation must originate in the U.S. House of Representatives, and House rules dictate that all bills regarding taxation must pass through Ways and Means. This system imparts upon the committee and its members a significant degree of influence over other representatives, committees, and public policy. Its Senate counterpart is the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance.

In the 118th Congress, the committee's chair is Jason T. Smith.[2] Recent chairmen have included Bill Thomas, Charlie Rangel, Sander Levin, Dave Camp, Paul Ryan, Kevin Brady, and Richard Neal.

History

File:Ways and Means 2020.jpg
Inside a Ways and Means meeting in November 2019.

The Ways and Means Committee was first established during the first Congress, in 1789. However, this initial version was disbanded after only 8 weeks; for the next several years, only ad hoc committees were formed, to write up laws on notions already debated in the whole House. It was first established as a standing committee by resolution adopted December 21, 1795,[3] and first appeared among the list of regular standing committees on January 7, 1802.[4] Upon its original creation, it held power over both taxes and spending, until the spending power was given to the new Appropriations Committee in 1865.[5]

During the Civil War the key policy-maker in Congress was Thaddeus Stevens, as chairman of the committee and Republican floor leader. He took charge of major legislation that funded the war effort and permanently transformed the nation's economic policies regarding tariffs, bonds, income and excise taxes, national banks, suppression of money issued by state banks, greenback currency, and western railroad land grants.[6] Stevens was one of the major policymakers regarding Reconstruction, and obtained a House vote of impeachment against President Andrew Johnson (who was acquitted by the Senate in 1868). Hans L. Trefousse, his leading biographer, concludes that Stevens "was one of the most influential representatives ever to serve in Congress. [He dominated] the House with his wit, knowledge of parliamentary law, and sheer willpower, even though he was often unable to prevail."[7] Historiographical views of Stevens have dramatically shifted over the years, from the early 20th-century view of Stevens and the Radical Republicans as tools of enormous business and motivated by hatred of the white South, to the perspective of the neoabolitionists of the 1950s and afterwards, who applauded their efforts to give equal rights to the freed slaves.Script error: No such module "Unsubst".

Three future presidents – James Polk, Millard Fillmore, and William McKinley – served as Committee Chairman. Before the official roles of floor leader came about in the late 19th century, the Chairman of Ways and Means was considered the Majority Leader. The chairman is one of very few Representatives to have office space within the Capitol building itself.[8]

Political significance

Template:United States House of Representatives Because of its wide jurisdiction, Ways and Means has always been one of the most important committees with respect to impact on policy. Although it lacks the prospects for reelection help that comes with the Appropriations Committee, it is seen as a valuable post for two reasons: given the wide array of interests that are affected by the committee, a seat makes it easy to collect campaign contributions[9] and since its range is broad, members with a wide array of policy concerns often seek positions to be able to influence policy decisions. Some recent major issues that have gone through the Ways and Means Committee include welfare reform, a Medicare prescription drug benefit, Social Security reform, George W. Bush's tax cuts, and trade agreements including the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA).

From 1911 to 1974, the Ways and Means Committee also had the responsibility to appoint members of other committees in addition to its legislative duties.[10] When Ways and Means chair Wilbur Mills' career ended in scandal, Congressman Phillip Burton transferred the committee's selection powers to a separate, newly created committee.[10]

Members, 119th Congress

Majority Minority
valign=top style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading"| valign=top style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|

Resolutions electing members: Template:Ordinal-congress/HRes/Template:Replace HRes Template:Replace (chair), Template:Ordinal-congress/HRes/Template:Replace HRes Template:Replace (Ranking Member), Template:Ordinal-congress/HRes/Template:Replace HRes Template:Replace (R), Template:Ordinal-congress/HRes/Template:Replace HRes Template:Replace (D)

Subcommittees

There are six subcommittees in the 118th Congress. In 2011, the Subcommittee on Income Security and Family Support was renamed the Subcommittee on Human Resources, returning to the name it held prior to the 110th United States Congress.[12] In 2015, the Select Revenue Measures was renamed the Subcommittee on Tax Policy.[13] In 2019 these two subcommittees were again renamed under Democratic control; Human Resources became Worker and Family Support and Tax Policy was renamed to Select Revenue Measures. In 2023 and under a return to Republican control, they were again renamed to Work and Welfare and Tax respectively.

Subcommittee Chair[14] Ranking Member[11]
Health Vern Buchanan (R-FL) Lloyd Doggett (D–TX)
Oversight David Schweikert (R-AZ) Terri Sewell (D-AL)
Social Security Ron Estes (R-KS) John B. Larson (D-CT)
Tax Mike Kelly (R-PA) Mike Thompson (D-CA)
Trade Adrian Smith (R-NE) Linda Sánchez (D-CA)
Work and Welfare Darin LaHood (R-IL) Danny Davis (D–IL)

List of chairs

# Chair Party State Start of service End of service
1 Thomas Fitzsimons Federalist PA 1789 1789
2 William L. Smith Federalist SC 1794 1797
3 Robert G. Harper Federalist SC 1797 1800
4 Roger Griswold Federalist CT 1800 1801
5 John Randolph Democratic-Republican VA 1801 1805
6 Joseph Clay Democratic-Republican PA 1805 1807
7 George W. Campbell Democratic-Republican TN 1807 1809
8 John W. Eppes Democratic-Republican VA 1809 1811
9 Ezekiel Bacon Democratic-Republican MA 1811 1812
10 Langdon Cheves Democratic-Republican SC 1812 1813
11 John W. Eppes Democratic-Republican VA 1813 1815
12 William Lowndes Democratic-Republican SC 1815 1818
13 Samuel Smith Democratic-Republican MD 1818 1822
14 Louis McLane Federalist DE 1822 1827
15 John Randolph style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | Democratic VA 1827 1827
16 George McDuffie style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | Democratic SC 1827 1832
17 Gulian C. Verplanck style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | Democratic NY 1832 1833
18 James K. Polk style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | Democratic TN 1833 1835
19 Churchill C. Cambreleng style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | Democratic NY 1835 1839
20 John W. Jones style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | Democratic VA 1839 1841
21 Millard Fillmore style="background-color:Template:Party color" | Whig NY 1841 1843
22 James I. McKay style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | Democratic NC 1843 1847
23 Samuel F. Vinton style="background-color:Template:Party color" | Whig OH 1847 1849
24 Thomas H. Bayly style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | Democratic VA 1849 1851
25 George S. Houston style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | Democratic AL 1851 1855
26 Lewis D. Campbell style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" | Republican OH 1856 1857
27 J. Glancy Jones style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | Democratic PA 1857 1858
28 John S. Phelps style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | Democratic MO 1858 1859
29 John Sherman style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" | Republican OH 1860 1861
30 Thaddeus Stevens style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" | Republican PA 1861 1865
31 Justin Morrill style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" | Republican VT 1865 1867
32 Robert C. Schenck style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" | Republican OH 1867 1871
33 Samuel Hooper style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" | Republican MA 1871 1871
34 Henry L. Dawes style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" | Republican MA 1871 1875
35 William R. Morrison style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | Democratic IL 1875 1877
36 Fernando Wood style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | Democratic NY 1877 1881
37 John R. Tucker style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | Democratic VA 1881 1881
38 William D. Kelley style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" | Republican PA 1881 1883
39 William R. Morrison style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | Democratic IL 1883 1887
40 Roger Q. Mills style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | Democratic TX 1887 1889
41 William McKinley style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" | Republican OH 1889 1891
42 William M. Springer style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | Democratic IL 1891 1893
43 William L. Wilson style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | Democratic WV 1893 1895
44 Nelson Dingley, Jr. style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" | Republican ME 1895 1899
45 Sereno E. Payne style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" | Republican NY 1899 1911
46 Oscar W. Underwood style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | Democratic AL 1911 1915
47 Claude Kitchin style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | Democratic NC 1915 1919
48 Joseph Fordney style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" | Republican MI 1919 1923
49 William R. Green style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" | Republican IA 1923 1928
50 Willis C. Hawley style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" | Republican OR 1928 1931
51 James W. Collier style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | Democratic MS 1931 1933
52 Robert L. Doughton style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | Democratic NC 1933 1947
53 Harold Knutson style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" | Republican MN 1947 1949
54 Robert L. Doughton style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | Democratic NC 1949 1953
55 Daniel A. Reed style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" | Republican NY 1953 1955
56 Jere Cooper style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | Democratic TN 1955 1957
57 Wilbur Mills style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | Democratic AR 1957 1975
Al Ullman (acting) style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | Democratic OR 1973 1975
58 Al Ullman style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | Democratic OR 1975 1981
59 Dan Rostenkowski style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | Democratic IL 1981 1994
Sam Gibbons (acting) style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | Democratic FL 1994 1995
60 Bill Archer style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" | Republican TX 1995 2001
61 Bill Thomas style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" | Republican CA 2001 2007
62 Charles Rangel style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | Democratic NY 2007 2010
Pete Stark (acting) style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | Democratic CA 2010 2010
63 Sander Levin style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | Democratic MI 2010 2011
64 Dave Camp style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" | Republican MI 2011 2015
65 Paul Ryan style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" | Republican WI 2015 2015
66 Kevin Brady style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" | Republican TX 2015 2019
67 Richard Neal style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | Democratic MA 2019 2023
68 Jason Smith style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" | Republican MO 2023 Present

Historical membership rosters

Majority Minority
valign=top style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading"| valign=top style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|

Resolutions electing members: Template:Ordinal-congress/HRes/Template:Replace HRes Template:Replace (chair), Template:Ordinal-congress/HRes/Template:Replace HRes Template:Replace (Ranking Member), Template:Ordinal-congress/HRes/Template:Replace HRes Template:Replace (R), Template:Ordinal-congress/HRes/Template:Replace HRes Template:Replace (D), Template:Ordinal-congress/HRes/Template:Replace HRes Template:Replace (Gomez), Template:Ordinal-congress/HRes/Template:Replace HRes Template:Replace (Horsford)

Subcommittees
Subcommittee Chair[15] Ranking Member[16]
Health Vern Buchanan (R-FL) Lloyd Doggett (D–TX)
Oversight David Schweikert (R-AZ) Bill Pascrell (D-NJ) (until August 21, 2024)
Linda Sánchez (D-CA) (from September 10, 2024)[17]
Social Security Drew Ferguson (R-GA) John B. Larson (D-CT)
Tax Mike Kelly (R-PA) Mike Thompson (D-CA)
Trade Adrian Smith (R-NE) Earl Blumenauer (D-OR)
Work and Welfare Darin LaHood (R-IL) Danny K. Davis (D–IL)

117th Congress

Majority Minority
valign=top style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"| valign=top style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading"|

Resolutions electing members: Template:Ordinal-congress/HRes/Template:Replace HRes Template:Replace (chair), Template:Ordinal-congress/HRes/Template:Replace HRes Template:Replace (Ranking Member), Template:Ordinal-congress/HRes/Template:Replace HRes Template:Replace (D), Template:Ordinal-congress/HRes/Template:Replace HRes Template:Replace (R), Template:Ordinal-congress/HRes/Template:Replace HRes Template:Replace (R), Template:Ordinal-congress/HRes/Template:Replace HRes Template:Replace (R)

Subcommittees
Subcommittee Chair Ranking Member
Health Lloyd Doggett (D–TX) Vern Buchanan (R–FL)
Oversight Bill Pascrell (D-NJ) Tom Rice (R-SC)
Select Revenue Measures Mike Thompson (D-CA) Mike Kelly (R–PA)
Social Security John B. Larson (D-CT) Tom Reed (R-NY)
Trade Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) Adrian Smith (R–NE)
Worker and Family Support Danny Davis (D–IL) Vacant

116th Congress

Majority Minority
valign=top style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"| valign=top style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading"|

Resolutions electing members: Template:Ordinal-congress/HRes/Template:Replace HRes Template:Replace (chair); Template:Ordinal-congress/HRes/Template:Replace HRes Template:Replace (Ranking Member), Template:Ordinal-congress/HRes/Template:Replace HRes Template:Replace (D), Template:Ordinal-congress/HRes/Template:Replace HRes Template:Replace (R)

Subcommittee
Subcommittee Chair Ranking Member
Health Lloyd Doggett (D–TX) Devin Nunes (R–CA)
Worker and Family Support Danny Davis (D–IL) Jackie Walorski (R–IN)
Oversight Bill Pascrell (D-NJ) Mike Kelly (R–PA)
Select Revenue Measures Mike Thompson (D-CA) Adrian Smith (R–NE)
Social Security John B. Larson (D-CT) Tom Reed (R-NY)
Trade Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) Vern Buchanan (R–FL)

115th Congress

Majority Minority
valign=top style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading"| valign=top style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"|

See also

Script error: No such module "Portal".

References

Template:Reflist

Sources

Further reading

  • Cataldo, Everett Felix. "The House Committee on Ways and Means" (PhD dissertation, The Ohio State University, 1965) online.
  • Curtis, Thomas B. "The House Committee on Ways and Means: Congress Seen Through a Key Committee." Wisconsin Law Review(1966): 121+ online.
  • Davidson, Roger. Masters of the House: Congressional leadership over two centuries (Routledge, 2018)
  • Kennon, Donald R., and Rebecca Mary Rogers. The Committee on Ways and Means: A Bicentennial History 1789–1989 (US Government Printing Office, 1989).
  • Manley, John F. "The House Committee on Ways and Means: Conflict management in a congressional committee." American Political Science Review 59.4 (1965): 927–939.
  • Manley, John F. The politics of finance: the House Committee on Ways and Means ( Little, Brown, 1970).
  • Sullivan, Terry. "Voter's paradox and logrolling: An initial framework for committee behavior on appropriations and ways and means." Public Choice (1976): 31–44. online
  • Winfree, Paul. A History (and Future) of the Budget Process in the United States (Springer Nature, 2019).

Primary sources

  • Rangel, Charles B.; Wynter, Leon (2007). And I Haven't Had a Bad Day Since: From the Streets of Harlem to the Halls of Congress. New York: St. Martin's Press.

External links

Template:Sister project

Script error: No such module "Navbox". Template:Authority control

  1. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  2. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  3. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  4. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  5. ↑ Cannon, J. M., Time and Chance: Gerald Ford's Appointment with History (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1994), p. 58.
  6. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  7. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  8. ↑ Schraufnagel, S., Historical Dictionary of the U.S. Congress (Lanham: The Scarecrow Press, Inc., 2011), p. 239 Template:Webarchive.
  9. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  10. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  11. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  12. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  13. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  14. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  15. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  16. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  17. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
Retrieved from "http://debianws.lexgopc.com/wiki143/index.php?title=United_States_House_Committee_on_Ways_and_Means&oldid=288332"