COMMITTEE S: An Overview

O'Brien, David M. Constitutional Law and Politics: Struggles for Power and Governmental Accountability. 2d ed.
,
1994.
U.S. Advisory Commission on Intergovernmen tal Relations. Federal Statutory Preemption of State and Local
Authority: History, Inventory, and Issues. 1992.
DAVID

M.

O'BRIEN

COMMITTE E OF THE WHOLE. Known as

the Committee of the Whole, the Committee of the
Whole House on the State of the Union is the
House of Representativ es meeting as if it were a
committee on which each member of the House
serves. (The procedural device is employed frequently in the House but has been abandoned by
the Senate.) This alternative debate forum is utilized to take advantage of more expeditious rules of
procedure. The Committee of the Whole continues
to meet in the same chamber, but other changes
signal the shift.
When the House transforms itself into the Committee, the mace is moved to a lower position on
the rostrum. The Speaker leaves the chair and a
majority party member is instead designated to
preside over the Committee. Members seeking
recognition from the chair change the form of address from ~~Mister (or Madam) Speaker" to ~~Mister
(or Madam) Chairman.~~
.The most significant changes are procedural.
First, the quorum requirement in the Committee is
only 100 members, whereas 218 are needed to constitute a quorum in the House. Second, obtaining a
recorded vote in the Committee requires a sufficient second of 25 members. In the House, one-fifth
of those present must approve taking a vote for the
record. If a quorum is present, the sufficient second
is 44, rising even higher when more than 218 members are on the floor.
Third, consideration of a measure is more flexible
in the Committee of the Whole. The one-hour rule
of debate governs in the House, permitting up to
one hour per question. In the Committee, however,
general debate is provided for by the unanimous
consent of the House or pursuant to a special rule
from the House Rules Committee. It can range
from one hour to several hours in length. Overall,
the Committee spends most of its time in the
amending process, where the five-minute rule prevails: five minutes for the proponents, five for the
opponents. On controversial questions, the period
for debate and amending is frequently extended by
unanimous consent or by offering of pro forma

409

amendments, which are amendments in form only,

that is, their only purpose is to obtain debate time.
The use of the Committee of the Whole has been
accepted House practice since 1789. The purpose
behind its use has changed considerably over time,
however. Its antecedents were found in the English
parliamentary practice of concealing proceedings
from the Speaker, who was viewed with suspicion
as a conduit to the Crown. Many colonial legislatures as well as the Continental Congress utilized a
committee of the whole to provide members with a
temporary forum in which debate could be exercised in a freer manner. Until the early 1800s, the
House of Representative s used the Committee of
the Whole to work out the broad outlines of a legislative proposal, which would then be sent to a select committee for further refinement. After the select committee completed its work, the Committee
of the Whole would again meet to debate and
amend the measure before the House would vote
on it. In modem House practice, use of the Committee is limited to this final stage of consideration:
debate and amending up to the point of final passage. In the Senate, the use of Committee of the
Whole for the consideration of legislative measures
was abolished in 1930, and its use for the consideration of treaties ended in 1986.
[See also Amending; Five-Minute Rule.]
BffiLIOGRAP HY
Alexander, De Alva Stanwood. History and Procedure of
the House of Representatives. 1916. Pp. 256- 272.
Nickels, Tiona B. Committee of the Whole: An Introduction. Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress. CRS Rept. 85-943. 1985.
U.S. House of Representatives. Deschler's Precedents of
the United States House of Representatives, by Lewis
Deschler. 94th Cong., 2d sess., 1977. H. Doc. 94-661.
Vol. 5,chap. 19,pp.39-286.
ILONA

B.

NICKELS

COMMITTE ES. [This entry includes nine separate articles on the role, formation, operation, and
types of congressional committees:
An Overview
Assignment of Members
Committee Hearings
Committee Jurisdictions
Markups
Committee Reports
Standing Committees
Select and Special Committees
Joint Committees