Standing committee | |
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Active![]() United States House of Representatives 116th Congress | |
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History | |
Formed | 1927 |
Leadership | |
Chair | Carolyn Maloney (D) Since October 17, 2019[1] |
Ranking member | Vacant (R) Since March 30, 2020 |
Vice chair | Jimmy Gomez (D) Since December 19, 2019 |
Structure | |
Seats | 41 |
Political parties | Majority (23)
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Subcommittees | |
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Website | |
oversight | |
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The Committee on Oversight and Reform is the main investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives.
The committee has broad jurisdiction and strong legislative authority, which makes it one of the most influential and powerful committees in the House. Its chairman is one of only three in the House that can make subpoenas without a committee vote or talking with the ranking member.[2] However, recently, it has become common to not make a subpoena by themselves..[3]
Carolyn Maloney (D-New York) became the acting chair of the committee after Elijah Cummings (D-Maryland) died on October 17, 2019;[4][5][6] she was elected chair a month later.[7][8]
The committee was called the Committee on Expenditures in the Executive Departments, and it was created in 1927 to combine 11 separate Committees on Expenditures that had overseen the spending of various federal departments.[9][10]
In 1997, the Republican majority on the committee changed its rules to allow the chairman, Dan Burton (R-Indiana), to make subpoenas without asking the committee's ranking Democrat.[11] From 1997 to 2002, Burton used this to make 1,052 subpoenas by himself. Many of those subpoenas were related to alleged misconduct by President Bill Clinton. This cost more than $35 million.[12]
Majority | Minority |
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Sources: H.Res. 24 (Chair), H.Res. 25 (Ranking Member), H.Res. 67 (D), H.Res. 68 (R)
The Committee on Oversight and Reform has six subcommittees.[14][15]
Subcommittee | Chair | Ranking Member |
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Civil Rights and Civil Liberties | Jamie Raskin (D-MD) | Chip Roy (R-TX) |
Economic and Consumer Policy | Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) | Michael Cloud (R-TX) |
Environment | Harley Rouda (D-CA) | James Comer (R-KY) |
Government Operations | Gerry Connolly (D-VA) | Mark Meadows (R-NC)[13] |
National Security | Stephen F. Lynch (D-MA) | Jody Hice (R-GA) |
Coronavirus Crisis (Select) | Jim Clyburn (D-SC) | TBD (R) |