Ranking member
InUnited States politics,aranking memberis the most senior member of a congressional or state legislative committee from the minority party.[1]On many committees the ranking minority member, along with theChair,serve asex officiomembers of all of the committee's subcommittees.
Both theUnited States Senate[2]andUnited States House of Representatives[3]use ranking members as part of their legislative structure.
When party control of a legislative chamber changes, a committee's ranking minority member is generally ensured to become the next chairman of the committee, and vice versa.[citation needed]
Congressional usage
[edit]Four Senate committees refer to the ranking minority member asvice chairman.The following committees follow the chairman/vice chairman structure for the majority and minority parties.
- Senate Committee on Appropriations
- Senate Committee on Indian Affairs
- Senate Select Committee on Ethics
- Senate Select Committee on Intelligence
Other Senate committees refer to the ranking minority members as ranking member.[4]
The House of Representatives normally does not use the term vice chairman for the ranking minority member, though some committees do have a vice-chairman position, usually assigned to a senior member of the majority party other than the chairman. House committees that follow this structure are:
- House Committee on Agriculture
- House Committee on Appropriations
- House Committee on the Budget
- House Committee on Education and the Workforce
- House Committee on Energy and Commerce
- House Committee on Financial Services
- House Committee on Government Reform
- House Committee on Foreign Affairs
- House Committee on Resources
- House Committee on Veterans' Affairs
- House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence(subcommittees only)
The position of vice chair as the designation for the ranking minority member has been used for theHouse January 6 Committee.
Joint committees of the House and Senate operate in much the same way, with a chairman and vice-chairman from the majority party, alternating between a member of the House and a member of the Senate, and often two ranking members from both bodies.
References
[edit]- ^"Politics Glossary: ranking member".The Washington Post.Archived fromthe originalon July 1, 2011.
- ^"U.S. Senate: Glossary Term | Ranking Minority Member".www.senate.gov.Retrieved2021-01-03.
- ^Singman, Brooke (2020-02-05)."Who are the House committee chairs?".Fox News.Retrieved2021-01-03.
- ^"United States Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs: Home".Banking.senate.gov.Retrieved2013-10-18.