In the United States House of Representatives, the House Democratic Caucus includes a Steering and Policy Committee. Its primary purpose is to assign fellow party members to other House committees, and it also advises party leaders on policy. The House Republican Conference divides the duties of this committee between two groups: a Policy Committee and a Steering Committee.
House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee
The House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee is chaired by the party leader in the House, which has been Nancy Pelosi since 2003, in her capacities as Minority Leader (2003-2007, 2011–present) and Speaker of the House (2007-2011), when the Democrats had the minority and majority of seats in the House, respectively. The party leader also appoints two co-chairs to assist her on the committee. Rosa DeLauro has been co-chair for Steering since 2003 and Eric Swalwell has been co-chair for Policy since 2017.
The statutory members include the full caucus leadership and deputy whip team and the committee chairs or ranking members (depending on a majority or minority) of Appropriations, Budget, Energy, Financial Services, Rules, and Ways and Means, and the elected representatives of the freshman class. Additional members are either directly appointed or elected as regional representatives.
Democratic Representatives are currently grouped into the following 12 regions:
1: Southern California (21–53)
2: Northern California (1–20), Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, Alaska, Northern Mariana Islands
3: Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska
4: Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma
5: Colorado, Utah, Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Idaho
6: Texas, Arizona, New Mexico
7: Louisiana, Tennessee, Arkansas, North Carolina, South Carolina
8: Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico
9: Maryland, New Jersey, Virginia, District of Columbia, Delaware
10: Ohio, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, West Virginia
11: New York
12: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Vermont
The members of the committee for the 114th Congress are as follows:
Co-Chairs: Rosa DeLauro (CT-3), Donna Edwards (MD-4)
Caucus Leadership: Nancy Pelosi (CA-8), Steny Hoyer (MD-5), Jim Clyburn (SC-6), Xavier Becerra (CA-34), Joseph Crowley (NY-14), Steve Israel (NY-3), Ben Luján (NM-3), Karen Bass (CA-37)
Chief Deputy Whips: John Lewis (GA-5), G. K. Butterfield (NC-1), Joaquín Castro (TX-20), Diana DeGette (CO-1), Keith Ellison (MN-5), Jan Schakowsky (IL-9), Kyrsten Sinema (AZ-9), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-23), Peter Welch (VT-AL)
Committee Ranking Members: Nita Lowey (NY-17), Chris Van Hollen (MD-8), Frank Pallone (NJ-6), Maxine Waters (CA-43), Louise Slaughter (NY-25), Sander Levin (MI-9)
Appointed Members: Matt Cartwright (PA-17) Judy Chu (CA-27), Katherine Clark (MA-5), Tammy Duckworth (IL-8), Hakeem Jeffries (NY-8), Marcy Kaptur (OH-9), John Larson (CT-1), Carolyn Maloney (NY-12), Betty McCollum (MN-4), Tim Ryan (OH-13), Terri Sewell (AZ-7), Eric Swalwell (CA-15), Mike Thompson (CA-5), Nydia Velázquez (NY-7), Vacant
Regional Members: Susan Davis (CA-53), Barbara Lee (CA-13), Gwen Moore (WI-4), André Carson (IN-7), Peter DeFazio (OR-4), Henry Cuellar (TX-28), Cedric Richmond (LA-2), Lois Frankel (FL-22), John Carney (DE-AL), Michael Doyle (PA-14), Yvette Clarke (NY-9), Mike Capuano (MA-7)
Freshmen Members: Donald Norcross (NJ-1), Stacey Plaskett (VI-AL)
Luke Messer currently chairs the Policy Committee. In the Republican House leadership hierarchy, the chair of the House Republican Policy Committee ranks fifth, below the Speaker of the House, Majority Leader, Majority Whip, and the Republican Conference Chairman.
Statutory members include the full conference leadership, the committee chairs or ranking members (depending on a majority or minority) of Appropriations, Budget, Energy, Rules, and Ways and Means, and the elected leaders of the sophomore and freshman classes. Appointed members include 14 regional representatives, at-large members, members from the 20 standing committees, and designated appointees by the sophomore (2) and freshman (1) class leaders.
Republican Representatives are currently grouped into the following 14 regions:
1: Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Utah, Colorado, Nevada, Alaska
2: Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Wyoming, New Mexico, South Dakota
3: Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky
4: Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota
5: Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, New Hampshire, Maine
6: Ohio, New York
7: Louisiana, Arkansas, Tennessee, Oklahoma
8: Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina
9: Virginia, North Carolina, West Virginia
10: California, Arizona, American Samoa
11: Florida, Mississippi
Small States: Wyoming, Alaska, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, New Mexico, Maryland, Maine, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Delegates (American Samoa, District of Columbia, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands)
Texas
Regions are restructured to reflect as closely as possible an equal number of Republican Members from each region; the small state group is composed of states that have three or fewer Republican members.
The members of the committee for the 114th Congress are as follows:
Chair: Luke Messer (IN-6)
Conference Leadership: Paul Ryan (WI-1), Kevin McCarthy (CA-23), Steve Scalise (LA-1), Cathy McMorris Rodgers (WA-5), Greg Walden (OR-2), Lynn Jenkins (KS-2), Virginia Foxx (NC-5), Patrick McHenry (NC-10)
Committee Chairs: Hal Rogers (KY-5), Tom Price (GA-6), Fred Upton (MI-6), Pete Sessions (TX-32), Kevin Brady (TX-8)
Sophomore and Freshman Class Leadership: Ann Wagner (MO-6), Mimi Walters (CA-45)
Regional Members: Cresent Hardy (NV-4), Vacant (Region II), Mike Bost (IL-12), Reid Ribble (WI-8), Keith Rothfus (PA-12), John Katko (NY-24), Rick Crawford (AR-1), Gary Palmer (AL-6), Mark Walker (NC-6), Steve Knight (CA-25), Gus Bilirakis (FL-12), Bruce Poliquin (ME-2), Blake Farenthold (TX-27)
At-Large Members: Barbara Comstock (VA-10), Renee Ellmers (NC-2), Mike Fitzpatrick (PA-8), Morgan Griffith (VA-9), Bradley Byrne (AL-1), Robert Hurt (VA-5), Adam Kinzinger (IL-16), Dan Newhouse (WA-4), Randy Weber (TX-14), Bruce Westerman (AR-4), Ted Yoho (FL-3)
Committee Members: Jeff Denham (CA-10), Chris Stewart (UT-2), Austin Scott (GA-8), Rob Woodall (GA-7), Rick Allen (GA-12), Richard Hudson (NC-8), Susan Brooks (IN-5), Andy Barr (KY-6), Joe Wilson (SC-2), Steven Palazzo (MS-4), Rodney Davis (IL-13), Jim Jordan (OH-4), Paul Gosar (AZ-4), Mark Meadows (NC-11), Doug Collins (GA-9), Randy Hultgren (IL-14), Steve King (IA-4), Don Young (AK-AL), Jackie Walorski (IN-2), Tom Reed (NY-23)
Sophomore and Freshman Class Members: Markwayne Mullin (OK-2), Brad Wenstrup (OH-2), Elise Stefanik (NY-21)
Policy Committee Chairs:
For House Republicans, the Steering committee is chaired by the party leader in the House, either the Speaker (if Republicans are in the majority) or the Minority (Floor) Leader (if Republicans are in the minority). Under rules adopted after the 1994 Republican Revolution, the House party leader had five votes on the committee, the majority/minority whip receives 2 votes, and all other members receive 1 vote. The current Chairman of the Republican Steering Committee is Paul Ryan.
The Republican counterpart in the Senate is the Committee on Committees. Senate Republicans also operate a Steering Committee to discuss policy issues.
Statutory members include the full conference leadership and the committee chairs or ranking members (depending on a majority or minority) of Appropriations, Budget, Energy, Financial Services, Rules, and Ways and Means. Appointed members include the direct appointments, 14 regional representatives, and members from the three most junior classes.
The current members of the committee are as follows:
Conference Leadership: Paul Ryan (WI-1), Kevin McCarthy (CA-23), Steve Scalise (LA-1), Cathy McMorris Rodgers (WA-5), Luke Messer (IN-6), Greg Walden (OR-2), Lynn Jenkins (KS-2), Virginia Foxx (NC-5), Patrick McHenry (NC-10)
Appointed Members: Pete Sessions (TX-32), 2 vacant seats
Regional Members: Joe Heck (NV-3), Kevin Yoder (KS-3), John Shimkus (IL-15), Candice Miller (MI-10), Bill Shuster (PA-9), Pat Tiberi (OH-12), Steve Womack (AR-3), Lynn Westmoreland (GA-3), Bob Goodlatte (VA-6), Devin Nunes (CA-22), Jeff Miller (FL-1), Cynthia Lummis (WY-AL), Lamar Smith (TX-21)
At-Large Members: Susan Brooks (IN-6), Tom Cole (OK-4), Tim Huelskamp (KS-1), Mike Rogers (AL-3), Jason Smith (MO-8), Fred Upton (MI-6)
Junior Class Members: Jeff Denham (CA-10), Richard Hudson (NC-8), Steve Russell (OK-5), Mike Bishop (MI-8)
The House Republican Conference approved changes to the Steering Committee's structure on November 19, 2015. These changes include a reduction in the Speaker's weighted votes from five to four (while giving him the right to appoint a new at-large member) and phased membership adjustments. The six committee leaders that were all previously given standing membership will share a single seat on a rotating basis, while congressional committee leaders whose relevant issues are being discussed will be invited to attend those meetings. The committee leaders' six vacant seats are to be elected by the whole Conference at-large by the end of 2015, and they will serve until the end of the 114th Congress (January 3, 2017). Following the 2016 general election for the next Congress, these at-large elected seats will be replaced by six additional regional representatives, with the new regions to be determined at that time.
