The Senate Committee on Rules and Administration (also called the Senate Rules Committee) is responsible for the rules of the United States Senate, with administration of congressional buildings, and with credentials and qualifications of members of the Senate, including responsibility for dealing with contested elections.
The committee is not as powerful as its House counterpart, the House Committee on Rules: 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 Printing.
Contents |
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: Committee on Rules.
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:
The Committee is chaired by Democrat Chuck Schumer of New York, and the Ranking Member is Republican Lamar Alexander of Tennessee.
| Majority | Minority |
|---|---|
|
|
Source: 2011 Congressional Record, Vol. 157, Page S557