Congressional politics 133and Financial Services; Agriculture; Commerce; and Transportation and
Infrastructure. There are also a number of joint committees of both houses
that coordinate the supervision of administrative agencies or make repre-
sentations to Congress on specific topics. Many of the standing committees
are divided into a number of subcommittees, each with its own responsibility
for a specialised area of the committee’s field of interest. Some of the larger
committees have a considerable range of specialised subcommittees – ten
subcommittees of the House Appropriations Committee, eight subcommit-
tees of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
The standing committees, and their subcommittees, hold hearings at
which members of the public, representatives of interested groups, or mem-
bers of the administration can give evidence in support of, or in opposition
to, proposed legislation. The witnesses may be cross-examined by members
of the committee; for members of the administration this can be quite an
ordeal, far more searching and detailed than the questions asked at question
time in a parliamentary system. Witnesses may prepare complex, detailed
briefs to submit to the committee, and these together with a transcript of the
proceedings are made public. Until 1973 the public was excluded from the
‘executive sessions’ of committees, in which most of the real work was done,
and in which a Bill could be changed out of all recognition. Today, in general,
committee sessions in both House and Senate are open to the public, with
the exception of sessions in which issues concerning national security are be-
ing discussed or those which would ‘tend to defame, degrade or incriminate
any person’.
The committees can become extremely expert in their field of interest,
as members of Congress may serve continuously on a committee for many
years. They are provided with a specialist staff, which, although it cannot
compete with the resources of the departments of the administration with
which the committee must deal, can brief the members on the subjects to
which it must give consideration. This expertise, and the fact of working
together over long periods, tends to build up a corporate spirit on a commit-
tee, which may transcend party loyalties. The committees are the principal
arenas in which compromise takes place, and by the time the members of a
committee have hammered out a compromise they will be reluctant to see
it upset either by the leadership of their own party or by amendments from
the floor. Some committees, notably the Senate Foreign Relations Commit-
tee, have managed to develop considerable internal unity, regardless of party.
The activities of the committees make it possible for a large proportion of
the business conducted on the floor of the House or Senate to be dealt with
by ‘bipartisan majorities’ – that is, votes in which a majority of each of the
two parties joins to decide an issue. It is usual for approximately half the
roll call votes in a session of Congress to be taken by bipartisan majorities.
Conversely, if a committee is opposed to the passage of a bill it is very un-
likely to be acceptable to the chamber as a whole. Thus, although standing
committees are composed of members of both parties in proportion to party