United States Senate Committee on Rules and Administration

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Senate Rules and Administration Committee
Standing committee
Active
Seal of the United States Senate.svg
United States Senate
119th Congress
History
FormedDecember 9, 1874
Leadership
Chair Mitch McConnell (R)
Since January 3, 2025
Ranking member Alex Padilla (D)
Since January 3, 2025
Structure
Political partiesMajority (9)
  •   Republican (9)
Minority (8)
Jurisdiction
Policy areasBooks, manuscripts and monuments to the memory of individuals, Congressional office buildings, Congressional Record, Corrupt practices, Credentials and qualifications of members of the Senate, Federal elections generally, Government Publishing Office, Meetings of the Congress and attendance of members, Presidential succession, Senate library, statuary and works of art in the Capitol, Smithsonian Institution, Standing Rules of the United States Senate, United States Botanic Garden
Oversight authority Architect of the Capitol, Congressional Research Service, FEC, EAC, GPO, Historian of the United States Senate, Library of Congress, Parliamentarian of the United States Senate, Secretary of the Senate, Sergeant at Arms of the United States Senate, Smithsonian Institution, United States Botanic Gardens, United States Senate Curator, United States Senate Library
House counterpart
Website
https://www.rules.senate.gov/
Rules

    The Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, also called the Senate Rules and Administration Committee, is responsible for the rules of the United States Senate, administration of congressional buildings, and with credentials and qualifications of members of the Senate, including responsibility for contested elections. The committee is not as powerful as its House counterpart, the House Committee on Rules, as it does not set the terms of debate for individual legislative proposals, since the Senate has a tradition of open debate. Some members of the committee are also ex officio members of the Joint Committee on the Library and the Joint Committee on Printing.

    Contents

    History

    The Committee was first created as the Select Committee to Revise the Rules of the Senate on December 3, 1867. On December 9, 1874, it became a standing committee.

    On January 2, 1947, its name was changed to the Committee on Rules and Administration, and it took over the functions of the following committees:

    Jurisdiction

    In accordance of Rule XXV of the United States Senate, all proposed legislation, messages, petitions, memorials, and other matters relating primarily to the following subjects is referred to the Senate Rules Committee:

    1. Administration of the Senate Office Buildings and the Senate wing of the Capitol, including the assignment of office space;
    2. Congressional organization relative to rules and procedures, and Senate rules and regulations, including floor and gallery rules;
    3. Corrupt practices;
    4. Credentials and qualifications of Members of the Senate, contested elections, and acceptance of incompatible offices;
    5. Federal elections generally, including the election of the President, Vice President, and Members of the Congress;
    6. Nominations to fill a vacancy in the Vice Presidency;
    7. Government Printing Office, and the printing and correction of the Congressional Record, as well as those matters provided for under rule XI;
    8. Meetings of the Congress and attendance of Members;
    9. Payment of money out of the contingent fund of the Senate or creating a charge upon the same (except that any resolution relating to substantive matter within the jurisdiction of any other standing committee of the Senate shall be first referred to such committee);
    10. Presidential succession;
    11. Purchase of books and manuscripts and erection of monuments to the memory of individuals;
    12. Senate Library and statuary, art, and pictures in the Capitol and Senate Office Buildings;
    13. Services to the Senate, including the Senate restaurant; and,
    14. United States Capitol and congressional office buildings, the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian Institution (and the incorporation of similar institutions), and the Botanic Gardens. [1]

    The Senate Rules Committee is also charged:

    1. To make a continuing study of the organization and operation of the Congress of the United States and shall recommend improvements in such organization and operation with a view toward strengthening the Congress, simplifying its operations, improving its relationships with other branches of the United States Government, and enabling it better to meet its responsibilities under the Constitution of the United States;
    2. To identify any court proceeding or action which, in the opinion of the Committee, is of vital interest to the Congress as a constitutionally established institution of the Federal Government and call such proceeding or action to the attention of the Senate; and,
    3. To develop, implement, and update as necessary a strategic planning process and a strategic plan for the functional and technical infrastructure support of the Senate and provide oversight over plans developed by Senate officers and others in accordance with the strategic planning process. [2]

    Members, 119th Congress

    Majority [3] Minority [4]

    Chairs

    Select Committee to Revise the Rules of the Senate, 1867–1874

    Committee on Rules, 1874–1947

    Committee on Rules and Administration, 1947–present

    Historical committee rosters

    118th Congress

    Majority [5] Minority [6]

    117th Congress

    MajorityMinority

    116th Congress

    MajorityMinority

    115th Congress

    MajorityMinority

    Source: "U.S. Senate Committee on Rules and Administration". Senate rules committee website. Retrieved April 11, 2018.

    114th Congress

    MajorityMinority

    Source: 2013  Congressional Record, Vol. 159, Page  S296 to 297

    Notes

    1. 1 2 3 4 Angus King is an independent who caucuses with the Democrats.

    References

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