The committee system dominates the House of Representatives. It is within committees that much of the daily work of the House is completed. Committees meet to discuss specific policies, work to control the congressional agenda, and guide legislation as it progresses through Congress until it is either signed or vetoed by the president. Representatives can be members of several different committees during any given session.

There are four different types of House committees. The first type, standing committees, are always assembled and are the most important committees of the House. There are approximately 20 standing committees. Examples include the Agriculture, Budget, Rules, Ways and Means, and Appropriations Committees. Standing committees handle bills within their areas of concern. Each committee is broken into subcommittees that hold hearings, discuss proposed laws, add amendments, and conduct oversight on the bureaucratic agency that corresponds to the committee’s area of concern. Joint committees are congressional committees that draw members from both the House and the Senate. They meet to discuss policy areas such as the economy and taxation. Conference committees also draw members from both the House and the Senate. These committees gain consensus on similar bills passed by the House and the Senate before they are presented to the president. Select committees are appointed for specific purposes, such as investigating a governmental situation or crisis.

A phenomenon that exists within the congressional committee system is the iron triangle. An iron triangle is made up of congressional committees and subcommittees, corresponding bureaucratic agencies, and the interest groups who are directly affected by the laws considered by the committee. For example, the Armed Service Committee (House committee), the Defense Department (bureaucratic agency), and Boeing Corporation (interest group) make a defense iron triangle. These groups are tied together in a mutually dependent relationship and can dominate areas of domestic policy making. Many such triangles exist in Congress.

Iron triangles can have both a positive and a negative impact on legislation. They have a positive effect on policy making because the bureaucracy within the triangle is able to ensure that the laws Congress passes are effective and practical. Another positive effect is that interest groups have a direct say in the creation of legislation that affects their members. In addition, Congress can rely on outside experts to ensure that they write legislation in a manner suitable to get the necessary tasks accomplished.

Iron triangles may have a negative effect on legislation when the relationship between committees—who are supposed to be watchdogs over the bureaucracy and departments of that bureaucracy—becomes too comfortable. In addition, interest groups may overly influence the outcome of legislation and encourage governmental waste or overspending on projects. For example, in 2003, the Boeing Corporation and the U.S. Air Force constructed a refueling tanker deal that would have delivered huge profits to the airplane manufacturer and possibly unneeded aircraft for the military. Some say this deal was a result of improper dealings between members of an iron triangle.

Copyright 2006 The Regents of the University of California and Monterey Institute for Technology and Education