United States House Committee on Armed Services

Committee information

• Date created: August 2, 1946
• Members: Sixty-one members in the 115th Congress (2017–2018)
• Subcommittees: Intelligence, Emerging Threats, and Capabilities; Military Personnel; Readiness; Seapower and Projection Forces; Strategic Forces; Tactical Air and Land Forces; Oversight and Investigations.

Role

The United States House Committee on Armed Services is a legislative committee in the US House of Representatives that has broad responsibilities related to the defense and protection of the country. It is more commonly referred to as the House Armed Services Committee. It is one of the twenty-one permanent congressional committees established to facilitate the function the full body of the House. As of the 115th Congress (2017–2019), the committee had seven subcommittees.

The administration of all funding and activities of the Department of Defense is under the Armed Services Committee’s jurisdiction, including oversight of all active military operations. This includes supervising the organization of the department and any needed operational changes, its use of nongovernment or private contractors for services related to ongoing military operations, and policies related to the acquisition and function of military bases.

The Armed Services Committee also has oversight responsibilities for some significant aspects of the Department of Energy. These are mostly related to protecting the country’s energy plants and resources from attack and making them available for defensive purposes. In addition, the committee assumes responsibility for policies related to detainee affairs related to international prisoners captured as a result of war and counterterrorism activities. The committee also has jurisdiction over any programs related to counter-drug activity, especially those that involve crossing international borders. The Armed Services Committee is charged with overseeing research and projects related to the advancement of technologies that could be used by the military. This includes weapons technology, new defensive and early-warning technology, and any technology with intelligence capabilities.

Some of the key issues facing the Armed Services Committee in the twenty-first century include readiness, Defense Department reform, issues related to protecting military personnel from sexual harassment and assault, and dealing with potential terror threats originating in the Middle East and elsewhere. Readiness includes ensuring America has the funding, equipment, technology, and personnel needed to be prepared for any threats or attacks. This encompasses aspects such as intelligence, training, acquisition of supplies and equipment, and budgetary issues related to providing adequate compensation for military personnel. Reforming the Defense Department includes determining if it has adequate personnel and resources for the challenges of protecting a country as large as the United States in contemporary times and making changes necessary to ensure the nation’s safety. Mitigating sexual assault in the military involves establishing standards of behavior for all military personnel, mandating appropriate training, and providing adequate means to address assaults when they occur. This includes providing protection for the victims and establishing policies to prevent retaliation against those who report violations. Addressing ongoing terror attacks involves maintaining appropriate levels of troops in areas known to harbor terrorist activities and overseeing levels of intelligence and surveillance suitable to guard against emerging threats. This includes potential threats to American infrastructure and energy sources.

History

The House of Representatives was always intended to be a committee of the whole, with every member participating in discussions of all issues. The US Constitution makes no provision for the seating or governance of committees within Congress. However, during the early 1800s, Congress began forming committees to address specific issues. This was intended to speed up the process of reviewing and acting on issues by reducing the number of participants in the early, information-gathering stages. It was also meant to help the members of the House to get more done by sharing the responsibilities across many smaller groups. The theory was that the smaller groups would be able to do more in-depth study and have more effective discussions. Congress initially saw these committees as a temporary measure, but they continued through the nineteenth century.

Around the middle of the twentieth century, Congress undertook efforts to streamline the unwieldy system of committees. The forty-eight committees in the House were reduced to nineteen by the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946. When this was signed into law on August 2, 1946, it officially formed the House Committee on Armed Services along with its Senate counterpart.

Although the Armed Services Committee only came into being in the 1940s, members of the House had long attended to the responsibilities that eventually were designated to the committee. It began as a series of select committees, or temporary committees created by a resolution in the House to address specific issues related to the country’s military defense activities. In 1809, the House created its first select committee to address issues related to the US Navy. This was followed by another select committee in 1811 charged with overseeing military land forces. These were the earliest in a series of select committees formed to address these branches of the military. A select committee to address issues related to state militias was created in 1815.

The first permanent House committees to oversee military operations came in 1822, when the Military Affairs Committee and Naval Affairs Committee were created. This put an end to the need to repeatedly create short-term select committees. Over the next hundred years, the responsibilities of these committees were expanded. In 1885, they were given authority over funding appropriations for their respective areas, and, in 1911, the Military Affairs Committee absorbed the functions of the Militia Committee when it was dissolved.

In 1920, defense-related spending was moved from the authority of the Military Affairs Committee and Naval Affairs Committee and given to the House Appropriations Committee. The committees continued as separate entities until the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 combined them into the House Armed Services Committee. This was the committee’s official name until 1995, when it was renamed the National Security Committee. In 1999, Congress changed the name back to the Armed Services Committee. Other highlights of the committee’s history include an expansion of its jurisdiction to include broad responsibility for the country’s defense and full oversight of the Department of Defense, which was formalized in 1953, and the addition of oversight and responsibility for the nuclear energy applications related to military operations, which happened in 1977.

Subcommittees

During the 115th Congress, which was in session from 2017 to 2019, the House Committee on Armed Services had sixty-one members. The membership of all committees is determined by Congress. Selection of members to various committees is based on the rules established by the majority and minority parties. The membership reflects the overall make up of Congress. For example, a majority of Democrats were elected to serve in 116th Congress from 2019 to 2021. Therefore, the leadership of all House committees, including the Armed Services Committee, fell to Democrats for the 116th Congress. Conversely, when Republicans hold the majority, the heads of all committees are Republicans.

The leadership of the committee also establishes rules and policies for its meetings, including the days, dates, times, and reporting methods. The committee leadership can also determine how many subcommittees will be allowed as well as who can sit on the subcommittees.

For the 115th Congress, there were seven subcommittees under the House Armed Services Committee.

United States House Committee on Armed Services Subcommittee on Intelligence, Emerging Threats, and Capabilities

The Subcommittee on Intelligence, Emerging Threats, and Capabilities oversees all operations related to counterterrorism and other developing threats. The committee’s responsibilities span all branches of the military as well as joint activities with international partners. These duties include oversight for special forces operations and all initiatives related to counterterrorism. The committee oversees policies. It also oversees programs related to information technology and other scientific, technological, and intelligence developments related to defense and national security as well as programs needed to manage the effects of activities related to national defense and homeland security. This subcommittee is also charged with oversight for intelligence information, strategic communication, and cyber technology related to defense operations.

United States House Committee on Armed Services Subcommittee on Military Personnel

The Subcommittee on Military Personnel has oversight over all aspects related to the recruitment, retention, employment, and benefits of members of the military. This includes policies related to military recruitment and service; issues related to housing, health care, and other benefits; integration of active duty and reserve components of the military; and training and education. In addition, the committee has oversight of any matters regarding service members who are missing in action (MIA) or held as prisoners of war (POWs), as well as issues related to service member morale, recreational activities, and ongoing welfare.

United States House Committee on Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness

The Subcommittee on Readiness is responsible for all issues related to raising and maintaining a military force sufficient to defend the country. Essentially it is responsible for making sure the right personnel and equipment resources are in the right place at the right time to defend against any threats. This includes training, policies and procedures related to deployment, logistics for stationing and deploying troops, and decisions related to the establishment and closing of bases and military housing facilities. All military construction and the energy policies of the military come under the jurisdiction of this subcommittee.

United States House Committee on Armed Services Subcommittee on Seapower and Projection Forces

The Subcommittee on Seapower and Projection Forces has been designated responsibility for most of the equipment acquisition programs for the US Navy, Marines, and Naval Reserve forces. This includes oversight of shipyard operations and the deep-strike bomber units. The subcommittee also oversees maritime programs related to military service.

United States House Committee on Armed Forces Subcommittee on Strategic Forces

The Subcommittee on Strategic Forces has jurisdiction over most special weapons programs, including the ballistic missile system and national security space programs. Responsibility for the deep-strike bombers is excluded because the Subcommittee on Seapower and Projection Forces oversees it. The Subcommittee on Strategic Forces also oversees most aspects of the national security programs of the Department of Energy.

United States House Committee on Armed Forces Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces

The Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces has responsibility for the acquisition of weapons and resources for the US Army and Air Force. The committee also assumes responsibility for the procurement of munitions and resources for the aviation programs of the US Marine Corps and Navy as well as the reserve forces of the Air Force, the Army reserve units, and the National Guard.

United States House Committee on Armed Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations

The Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations addresses issues under the jurisdiction of the committee as needed, at the discretion of the committee chairperson. The subcommittee’s oversight is limited to the specific issue or issues that arise. Although this was one of the subcommittees of the Armed Services Committee during the 115th Congress, it was unclear if it would remain in the 116th Congress.

Bibliography

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“House Committee on Armed Services.” GovTrack, www.govtrack.us/congress/committees/HSAS#subcommittees. Accessed 19 Jan. 2019.

“House Committee on Armed Services.” United States House of Representatives, armedservices.house.gov. Accessed 19 Jan. 2019.

“House Committees.” History, Art & Archives, United States House of Representatives, history.house.gov/Education/Fact-Sheets/Committees-Fact-Sheet2/. Accessed 19 Jan. 2019.

“Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946.” History, Art & Archives, United States House of Representatives, history.house.gov/Historical-Highlights/1901-1950/The-Legislative-Reorganization-Act-of-1946/. Accessed 19 Jan. 2019.