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Congressional Leaders Set Committee Ratios

January 23, 2023

Last week, Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) announced they had reached an agreement on how many lawmakers will serve on Congressional “A Committees”, which include:

• House Committee on Appropriations
• House Committee on Energy and Commerce
• House Committee on Financial Services
• House Committee on Ways and Means

Why it matters: these committees are the most sought-after assignments in the House, due to their jurisdictions. The sooner the ratios are agreed upon, leaders can finalize committee assignments and get the House up and running.

House Republicans have to navigate a narrow majority in the 118th Congress like the Democrats did in the 117th Congress. According to Minority Leader Jeffries:

“The ratios are consistent with an inversion of those from the last Congress where we held similarly-sized majority, with the exception of a few changes in overall committee size”.

By the numbers:

• Appropriations: will increase by two seats (one on each side), bringing the total committee seats to 61. The split will be 34 Republicans and 27 Democrats.
• Energy and Commerce: will decrease by six seats (three on each side), bringing the committee seats to 52. The split will be 29 Republicans and 23 Democrats.
• Financial Services: will decrease by two seats (one on each side), bringing the total number of seats to 52. The split will be 29 Republicans and 23 Democrats.
• Ways and Means: will remain at 43 seats like the 1117th Congress. The split will be 25 Republicans and 18 Democrats.

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