List of United States Senate committees


Many U.S. congressional committees operate in the United States Senate. Senators can be a member of more than one committee.

Standing committees

, there are 88 subsidiary bodies of the US Senate: 16 standing committees with 67 subcommittees, four non-standing committees, and four joint committees.

Non-standing committees

There are five non-standing, select, or special committees, which are treated similarly to standing committees.

Committee classes

Senate committees are divided, according to relative importance, into three categories: Class A, Class B, and Class C. In general, individual Senators are limited to service on two Class A committees and one Class B committee. Assignment to Class C committees is made without reference to a member's service on any other panels.

Standing committees

Standing committees are permanent bodies with specific responsibilities spelled out in the Senate's rules. Twelve of the sixteen current standing committees are Class A panels: Agriculture; Appropriations; Armed Services; Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs; Commerce, Science, and Transportation; Energy and Natural Resources; Environment and Public Works; Finance; Foreign Relations; Governmental Affairs; Judiciary; and Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.
There are four Class B standing committees: Budget, Rules and Administration, Small Business, and Veterans' Affairs. There are currently no Class C standing committees.

Other, select and special committees

Other, select and special committees are ranked as Class B or Class C committees. They are created for clearly specified purposes. There are currently two Class B committees: the Select Committee on Intelligence and the Special Committee on Aging, and two Class C committees: the Select Committee on Indian Affairs and the Select Committee on Ethics.

Joint committees

Joint Committees are used for purposes of legislative and administrative coordination. At present there are four: the Joint Economic Committee, the Joint Committee on the Library, the Joint Committee on Printing, and the Joint Committee on Taxation.

Jurisdiction

Standing committees in the Senate have their jurisdiction set by three primary sources: Senate Rules, ad hoc Senate Resolutions, and Senate Resolutions related to committee funding. To see an overview of the jurisdictions of standing committees in the Senate, see Standing Rules of the United States Senate, Rule XXV.

Party leadership

Each party determines their committees leads, who serve as chair in the majority and ranking member in the minority. The table below lists the tenure of when each member was selected for their current term as committee lead. The Republican party rules stipulate that their leads of standing committees may serve no more than three congressional terms as chair or ranking member, unless the full party conference grants them a waiver to do so. The current majority party is listed first for each committee.
CommitteeParty LeadStateStartParty
Aging (Special)FLRepublican
Aging (Special)NYDemocratic
Agriculture, Nutrition and ForestryARRepublican
Agriculture, Nutrition and ForestryMNDemocratic
AppropriationsMERepublican
AppropriationsWADemocratic
Armed ServicesMSRepublican
Armed ServicesRIDemocratic
Banking, Housing and Urban AffairsSCRepublican
Banking, Housing and Urban AffairsMADemocratic
BudgetSCRepublican
BudgetORDemocratic
Commerce, Science and TransportationTXRepublican
Commerce, Science and TransportationWADemocratic
Energy and Natural ResourcesUTRepublican
Energy and Natural ResourcesNMDemocratic
Environment and Public WorksWVRepublican
Environment and Public WorksRIDemocratic
Ethics (Select)OKRepublican
Ethics (Select)DEDemocratic
FinanceIDRepublican
FinanceORDemocratic
Foreign RelationsIDRepublican
Foreign RelationsNHDemocratic
Health, Education, Labor and PensionsLARepublican
Health, Education, Labor and PensionsVTIndependent
Homeland Security and Governmental AffairsKYRepublican
Homeland Security and Governmental AffairsMIDemocratic
Indian Affairs (Permanent Select)AKRepublican
Indian Affairs (Permanent Select)HIDemocratic
Intelligence (Select)ARRepublican
Intelligence (Select)VADemocratic
International Narcotics Control (Permanent Caucus)TXRepublican
International Narcotics Control (Permanent Caucus)RIDemocratic
JudiciaryIARepublican
JudiciaryILDemocratic
Rules and AdministrationKYRepublican
Rules and AdministrationCADemocratic
Small Business and EntrepreneurshipIARepublican
Small Business and EntrepreneurshipMADemocratic
Veterans' AffairsKSRepublican
Veterans' AffairsCTDemocratic