United States House Committee on Ways and Means

Committee information

• Date created: July 24, 1789, as a select committee; January 7, 1802, as a standing committee
• Members: Forty-three members in the 119th Congress (2025)
• Subcommittees: Health; Work and Welfare; Tax Policy; Social Security; Trade; and Oversight

Role

The House Committee on Ways and Means is the primary tax-writing committee in the United States House of Representatives. It is also responsible for matters concerning healthcare, Social Security, Medicare, unemployment benefits, child support, and international trade restrictions. The committee was first established in 1789, making it the oldest committee in congressional history. The idea behind the committee was borrowed from a similar body in the British Parliament and authorized by the US Constitution. The committee is one of the most influential in Congress and has seen several of its former members go on to become president of the United States and justices on the Supreme Court.

House and Senate committees are smaller subdivisions of the US Congress that are assigned specific issues and duties. Committees investigate, review, and vote on legislation that falls under their specific mandate. They can then make recommendations and bring the issue to a full vote before the main body of the House or Senate. The committees themselves can also be divided into subcommittees to handle even more specific tasks. Congressional committees were established in the first Congress, but were originally seen as temporary measures. The number of committees expanded in the nineteenth century as some committees were made permanent. Reforms in the twentieth century reduced the number of committees and set rules for the number of subcommittees allowed.

During the 119th Congress, the House had twenty permanent committees and the Senate had sixteen. Both bodies also had a number of temporary committees and joint committees shared between the two. Combined, the House and Senate have more than two hundred committees and subcommittees. House rules limit the number of subcommittees per committee to five, although they do allow the formation of an oversight subcommittee in a supervisory capacity. Some House committees are allowed more than the maximum number of subcommittees. For example, the House Appropriations Committee has twelve subcommittees and the Armed Services Committee has seven. The Senate has no rules restricting the number of subcommittees.

Permanent congressional committees are known as standing committees and have the legislative authority to consider bills and other issues and recommend them to the full chamber. They are granted oversight to monitor federal agencies and programs relating to their specific duties. Most standing committees also make funding recommendations for their agencies and programs.

A select committee is a panel established by a resolution of either the House or Senate. A select committee can be created to investigate issues that do not easily fall under the responsibility of existing standing committees. Most select committees are typically exploratory and confine their responsibility to studying an issue, although some may consider legislative action. Select committees are temporary and must be renewed to continue after their mandate expires. On some occasions, select committees have become standing committees.

A joint committee is made up of members of both the House and Senate. Joint committees rarely consider legislative action and are more likely to confine their work to the study of an issue or congressional “housekeeping” duties. For example, the Joint Committee on the Library oversees the operations of the Library of Congress. As of 2018, there were four permanent joint committees in Congress.

History

The British Parliament created the first committee on ways and means in the seventeenth century to oversee the raising of national revenue through taxation. The concept was adopted by many of the early legislatures in the American colonies. The authors of the Constitution allowed for the creation of a similar body in the young United States when they declared that all legislation concerning raising revenue through taxation must originate in the House of Representatives. During the very first session of Congress in 1789, a select Committee on Ways and Means was established to oversee the financial matters of the United States. However, the committee was dissolved less than two months later, and its duties were granted to Alexander Hamilton, the first Secretary of the Treasury.

Another select Committee on Ways and Means was appointed in 1795, and its mandate renewed during each congressional session for the next seven years. On January 7, 1802, the committee was formally named a standing committee. Its original duties included taxation, revenue creation, foreign trade, the ability to borrow toward the national debt, government spending, and banking. During the Civil War (1861–1865), the Ways and Means Committee developed legislation that created the first national income tax. After the war, the size of government had grown so large that responsibility for government spending was assigned to the newly formed Appropriations Committee. Responsibility for banking was also split off and assigned to the Committee on Banking and Currency, which is today called the Financial Services Committee. The Ways and Means Committee continued to oversee taxation and revenue creation and handle issues concerning tariffs and foreign trade agreements.

For much of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the head of the Ways and Means Committee was so powerful he was also considered the floor leader of the House. Three former committee chairmen—Millard Fillmore, William McKinley, and James K. Polk—later went on to become president of the United States. In 1919, the idea of giving floor leadership to a committee chair was done away with and the position of House majority leader was created. In 1913, membership on the Ways and Means Committee was made “exclusive,” meaning no member could serve on any other House committee.

When Congress reorganized its committee structure in 1946, the Ways and Means Committee was also given authority over Social Security, unemployment benefits, and several other social programs. In the early 1970s, Medicare and healthcare legislation were also assigned to the committee. In addition to these duties, the committee is responsible for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, child support enforcement, child welfare, and foster care.

Subcommittees

During the 115th Congress, which was in session from January 2017 to January 2019, the House Ways and Means Committee consisted of forty members—twenty-four Republicans and sixteen Democrats. The number of committee members is adjusted with each session of Congress. The ratio of Republicans to Democrats is determined by the ratio of the two parties in the full House. The committee is scheduled to meet each Wednesday when Congress is in session; however, it forgoes these meetings if it has no business to discuss. The chair may call for additional meetings at any time. All matters concerning taxation revenue must be considered by the full committee unless they are related to a specific duty of a subcommittee. As of 2018, the House Ways and Means Committee had six permanent subcommittees: Health, Social Security, Work and Welfare, Tax Policy, Trade, and Oversight.

United States House Committee on Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health

This subcommittee is responsible for legislative matters concerning federal payments for healthcare, health delivery systems, and health research. Its primary charge is Medicare, a federal health insurance program for Americans over age sixty-five and younger people with disabilities. The subcommittee oversees the taxes that fund Medicare and also has jurisdiction over payments to hospitals, nursing facilities, physicians, and other healthcare providers. In addition, the subcommittee supervises the Medicare prescription drug program and private insurance programs administered through Medicare.

The Subcommittee on Health also handles legislation regarding the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare. One of its main duties concerns the ACA’s tax credit that low-income households can use to lower their monthly insurance payments. In 2018, the subcommittee submitted several bills to the full House meant to combat the opioid crisis in the United States. Among the many provisions of the legislation were requirements for Medicare to inform hospitals of the risks of opioid dependency and issue guidelines for pain management procedures. The bills also authorized Medicare to cover opioid treatment programs and non-opioid pain management medications. The bills were incorporated into several other House measures and passed by the full chamber. They were signed into law in October 2018. As of the 119th Congress, the Subcommittee on Health had nineteen members.

United States House Committee on Ways and Means Subcommittee on Social Security

The subcommittee oversees legislation relating to the Social Security Act, a landmark bill created as part of President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal program in 1935. Among its many provisions, the act provides benefits for people over the age of sixty-two, their surviving family members, retirees, and disabled Americans. The Subcommittee on Social Security is primarily tasked with oversight of the Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance System—the official name of Social Security—the Railroad Retirement System, and taxation methods used to fund these systems. The Railroad Retirement System is a federal agency that provides retirement benefits to railroad workers and their families.

In 2017, the subcommittee considered legislation that would prevent people from receiving Social Security disability benefits and unemployment benefits in the same month. In 2018, the subcommittee sent legislation to the full House that would provide new Social Security numbers to children fourteen and younger if their information has been stolen or compromised. As of late 2018, both those measures were still in the legislative process. The Subcommittee on Social Security consisted of thirteen members in the 119th Congress.

United States House Committee on Ways and Means Subcommittee on Work and Welfare

The subcommittee is responsible for aspects of the Social Security Act that specifically concern public welfare. These include unemployment compensation, child and family welfare services, energy assistance programs, food stamps, child support, foster care, and adoption services. In regard to unemployment benefits, the subcommittee oversees legislative coordination between the federal and state unemployment systems. It is also responsible for decisions concerning extension of benefits and emergency benefits.

In May 2018, the subcommittee began consideration of an amendment to the Social Security Act that would reauthorize the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program and change the focus of the program toward helping low-income individuals find work. The TANF program was authorized in 1997 to provide temporary financial help for pregnant women and families with eligible children. The proposed changes to the program would include a name change to the Jobs and Opportunity with Benefits and Services (JOBS). The Subcommittee on Work and Welfare consisted of thirteen members in the 119th Congress.

United States House Committee on Ways and Means Subcommittee on Tax Policy

The Subcommittee on Tax Policy considers tax legislation that is specifically referred to it by the full committee chair. The subcommittee also holds hearings on issues pertaining to taxation, such as how tax reform could benefit small businesses. Nineteen members made up the Subcommittee on Tax Policy in the 119th Congress.

United States House Committee on Ways and Means Subcommittee on Trade

The Subcommittee on Trade oversees bills and issues concerning customs operations, import trade rules, enforcement of trade agreements, tariffs, and other issues concerning international trade. A tariff is a tax placed upon imported goods at the time of entry into a US port. A tariff is meant to reduce the impact of pricing differences between the foreign product and US goods. The subcommittee also addresses issues with US access to international markets, competitive imbalances between the United States and foreign industries, and trade with developing nations. In addition, the subcommittee authorizes the budgets for the customs branch of the Department of Homeland Security, the International Trade Commission, and the office of the US Trade Representative. In the 119th Congress, the Subcommittee on Trade consisted of twenty-one members.

United States House Committee on Ways and Means Subcommittee on Oversight

The Subcommittee on Oversight is responsible for reviewing and supervising the agencies and programs that fall under the jurisdiction of the full committee or any subcommittee. If the subcommittee investigates a matter concerning taxation, it must share jurisdiction with the full Ways and Means Committee. Before any investigation can proceed, the chair of the Subcommittee on Oversight must first inform the full committee chair and the chair of the subcommittee with jurisdiction over the specific issue. Thirteen members made up the Subcommittee on Oversight in the 119th Congress.

Bibliography

“115th Congress (2018 Cycle).” The Center for Responsive Politics, www.opensecrets.org/cong-cmtes/overview?cmte=HWAY&cmtename=House+Ways+and+Means+Committee&cong=115. Accessed 9 Feb. 2025.

"Smith Announces 119th Congress Ways and Means Subcommittee Chairs." Committee on Ways and Means, 14 Jan. 2024, waysandmeans.house.gov/2025/01/14/smith-announces-119th-congress-ways-and-means-subcommittee-chairs. Accessed 28 Jan. 2025.

Spieler, Matthew. The U.S. House of Representatives: Fundamentals of American Government. Thomas Dunne Books, 2015.

“Subcommittees.” Committee on Ways and Means US House of Representatives, waysandmeans.house.gov/subcommittees. Accessed 9 Feb. 2025.

"Summary of Changes Made to the Rules of the Committee on Ways and Means for the 119th Congress." Committee on Ways and Means, waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Summary-of-Changes-119th-Rules.pdf. Accessed 28 Jan. 2025.

“Records of the Ways and Means Committee (1795–1968).” National Archives, Apr. 2021, www.archives.gov/legislative/guide/house/chapter-21.html. Accessed 9 Feb. 2025.