The 112th Congress convenes on Wednesday, January 5 and one of the first orders of business in the House and Senate will be to vote on the rules governing each body for the next two years. In the House, Speaker John Boehner plans to meet with House Republican on Tuesday to finalize their rules bill. Much of what is included in the rules governs committees, some of the proposed rules by House Republicans for committees include that committees:
- Post online their rules
- Circulate the text of legislation to be marked-up no less than 24 hours before the markup
- Post online all votes in the committee 48 hours after a markup
- Make available online the text of any amendments adopted in a markup
- Post online “truth in testimony” information, “with appropriate redactions to protect the privacy of the witness” so that any conflicts of interest with hearing witnesses are made public
- Make available online the member attendance record for each hearing and markup within 24 hours
- Webcast and make available online their hearings and markups.
Additionally, structural changes to committees are also included - three committees will have name changes and a six year term limit on committee chairs will be reinstated from the 1994 Contract with America. The name changes are as follows:
- The Committee on Education and Labor will again be referred to as the Committee on Education and the Workforce
- The Committee on Standards and Official Conduct will simply be referred to as the Committee on Ethics
- The Committee on Science and Technology will referred to as the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology
Based on committee announcements the following Members will hold committee leadership positions:
- Agriculture:
- Chair: Frank Lucas, OK
- Ranking Member: Collin Peterson, MN
- Appropriations:
- Chair: Harold Rogers, KY
- Ranking Member: Norm Dicks, WA
- Armed Services:
- Chair: Howard "Buck" McKeon, CA
- Ranking Member: Adam Smith, WA
- Budget:
- Chair: Paul Ryan, WI
- Ranking Member: Chris Van Hollen, MD
- Education and the Workforce:
- Chair: John Kline, MN
- Ranking Member: George Miller, CA
- Energy and Commerce:
- Chair: Fred Upton, MI
- Ranking Member: Henry Waxman, CA
- Ethics:
- Chair: Jo Bonner, AL
- Ranking Member: No Announcement
- Financial Services:
- Chair: Spencer Bachus, AL
- Ranking Member: Barney Frank, MA
- Foreign Affairs:
- Chair: Ileana Ros-Lehitnen, FL
- Ranking Member: Howard Berman, CA
- Homeland Security:
- Chair: Peter King, NY
- Ranking Member: Bennie Thompson, MS
- House Administration:
- Chair: Dan Lungren, CA
- Ranking Member: Robert Brady, PA
- Judiciary:
- Chair: Lamar Smith, TX
- Ranking Member: John Conyers Jr., MI
- Natural Resources:
- Chair: Doc Hastings, WA
- Ranking Member: Edward Markey, MA
- Oversight and Government Reform:
- Chair: Darrell Issa, CA
- Ranking Member: Elijah Cummings, MD
- Rules:
- Chair: David Dreier, CA
- Ranking Member: Louise Slaughter, NY
- Science, Space, and Technology:
- Chair: Ralph Hall, TX
- Ranking Member: Eddie Bernice Johnson, TX
- Small Business:
- Chair: Sam Graves, MO
- Ranking Member: Nydia Velázquez, NY
- Transportation and Infrastructure:
- Chair: John Mica, FL
- Ranking Member: Nick Rahall, WV
- Veterans' Affairs:
- Chair: Jeff Miller, FL
- Ranking Member: Bob Filner, CA
- Ways and Means:
- Chair: Dave Camp, MI
- Ranking Member: Sander Levin, MI
Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence:
- Chair: Mike Rogers, MI
- Ranking Member: No Announcement
