#87: CIVICS 101: The Legislative Branch
Q&A #87: What are joint committees and how are they established?
Our American Government
Our American Government is a small book published by the House of Representatives for citizens and those who seek a greater understanding of the American interpretation of democracy. It follows a question-and-answer format and covers a broad range of topics dealing with the three branches of our Government, the electoral process, and the role of political parties.
The Savvy Citizen is reproducing the 169 questions-and-answers through a series of posts called Civics 101. Each post will contain the Q&A as well as some additional commentary to add historical context, fun facts, or anything we believe will add to our collective understanding of these topics.
Think of it as your adult Civics class but without the test!
Let’s keep at it.
SECTION: The Legislative Branch: The Congress
The Committee System
Q&A #87: What are joint committees and how are they established?
Joint committees are those that have Members chosen from both the House and Senate, generally with the chairmanship rotating between the most senior majority-party Senator and Representative. In general, they do not have legislative power to consider and report legislation to the full Chambers. These committees can be created by statute, or by joint or concurrent resolution, although all existing ones have been established by statute. Congress now has four permanent or long-term joint committees, the oldest being the Joint Committee on the Library, which dates from 1800; the other three are the Joint Economic Committee, Joint Committee on Printing, and Joint Committee on Taxation.
In addition, Congress sometimes establishes temporary joint committees for particular purposes, such as the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, which is formed every four years to handle the organizational and financial responsibilities for the inauguration of the President and Vice President.
My Thoughts
Each Joint Committee maintains a website detailing its history and activities. If you click on the links included in the answer above, you can navigate your way to each individual committee’s website. They’re quite interesting!
Back next time with Q&A #88: Do congressional committees hold hearings on all bills referred to them?
Meanwhile, don’t forget that we’re organizing the post links on a single page available here.
xo,
Kelley for the Savvy Citizen Team
April 24, 2025