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United States House Committee on Oversight and Reform facts for kids

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House Oversight Committee
Standing committee
Active
Seal of the United States House of Representatives.svg
United States House of Representatives
116th Congress
House Oversight Committee.png
History
Formed 1927
Leadership
Chair Carolyn Maloney (D)
Since October 17, 2019
Ranking member Vacant (R)
Since March 30, 2020
Vice chair Jimmy Gomez (D)
Since December 19, 2019
Structure
Seats 41
Political parties Majority (23) Minority (18)
Subcommittees

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. However, recently, it has become common to not make a subpoena by themselves..

Carolyn Maloney (D-New York) became the acting chair of the committee after Elijah Cummings (D-Maryland) died on October 17, 2019; she was elected chair a month later.

History

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.

Subpoena usage

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. 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.

Members, 116th Congress

Majority Minority
  • Jim Jordan, Ohio, Ranking Member
  • Paul Gosar, Arizona
  • Virginia Foxx, North Carolina
  • Thomas Massie, Kentucky
  • Mark Meadows, North Carolina, until March 30, 2020
  • Jody Hice, Georgia
  • Glenn Grothman, Wisconsin
  • James Comer, Kentucky
  • Michael Cloud, Texas
  • Bob Gibbs, Ohio
  • Clay Higgins, Louisiana
  • Ralph Norman, South Carolina
  • Chip Roy, Texas
  • Carol Miller, West Virginia
  • Mark E. Green, Tennessee
  • Kelly Armstrong, North Dakota
  • Greg Steube, Florida
  • Fred Keller, Pennsylvania

Sources: H.Res. 24 (Chair), H.Res. 25 (Ranking Member), H.Res. 67 (D), H.Res. 68 (R)

Subcommittees

The Committee on Oversight and Reform has six subcommittees.

Subcommittee Chair Ranking Member
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)
National Security Stephen F. Lynch (D-MA) Jody Hice (R-GA)
Coronavirus Crisis (Select) Jim Clyburn (D-SC) TBD (R)

Related pages

  • List of current United States House of Representatives committees
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