United States House Committee on Energy and Commerce

Committee information

• Date created: December 14, 1795
• Members: Fifty-four members in the 119th Congress (2025–2027)
• Subcommittees: Communications and Technology; Energy; Environment; Health; Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade; and Oversight and Investigations

Role

The United States House Committee on Energy and Commerce is the oldest continuous standing committee in the US House of Representatives. Its jurisdiction is generally the broadest of any Congressional committee. The Committee on Energy and Commerce oversees climate change, healthcare, food safety, hazardous waste, consumer protection, cybersecurity, nuclear energy, interstate commerce, and many other areas. It also oversees more than a dozen federal agencies, including the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and Department of Commerce (DOC).

The US Congress is divided into two subdivisions: the House of Representatives and the Senate. The number of seats the House of Representatives grants to each state depends on the state’s population; the Senate grants each state two seats. These two bodies are responsible for the country’s legislation.

Committees are smaller organizations comprised of members of the US Congress. They are assigned special duties related to their area of expertise. They may draft bills related to the area they oversee, promote bills to the rest of Congress, and advise Congress on matters pertaining to their duties. In order to manage the numerous responsibilities assigned to large committees, many committees are divided into subcommittees. Subcommittees are still part of the larger committee from which they were formed but have a far narrower set of responsibilities. Though both committees and subcommittees were originally created as temporary measures to handle specific legislative challenges, they have since become a permanent part of Congress. However, temporary committees are still formed for less important issues.

Some committees are entirely hosted by the House of Representatives or the Senate. Other committees, called joint committees, contain members from both houses of Congress. Collectively, and including joint committees, Congress hosts more than 200 committees. Though the House of Representatives imposes limitations on the number of subcommittees that each committee may create, several committees are allowed to surpass these limits. For example, the Armed Services Committee has seven subcommittees, even though the normal limit is five. The Senate does not place a limit on the number of subcommittees that a committee may create.

Large committees commonly function as a collection of informed individuals responsible for advising the creation of bills relevant to their area of expertise. They write and recommend bills to Congress. They may be responsible for overseeing federal programs and have a say in the funding of those programs. Limited temporary committees called select committees are formed to help with issues that do not fall under the responsibilities of an already established committee. However, select committees are often less powerful and influential than permanent committees.

History

When it was founded in 1795, the Energy and Commerce Committee was called the Committee on Commerce and Manufacturers. This makes the Energy and Commerce Committee the oldest continuous standing committee in the House of Representatives. The committee was originally created to regulate all forms of commerce between states as well as commerce between the United States and other nations. This already important task was expanded over time and led to the organization being renamed the Committee on Commerce in 1819. The committee was renamed a second time in 1891, when its name was changed to the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce. It was renamed a third time in 1981, when it became the Energy and Commerce Committee.

The committee’s power was expanded during two notable eras. During the first, Samuel Rayburn headed the committee from 1931 to 1936. Rayburn acted as a populist and used his political clout to turn the committee into a place where major policy changes were routinely discussed. He was aided in this effort by sitting president Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Rayburn’s work with the committee helped propel him to his eventual election as Speaker of the House.

The next major change for the Energy and Commerce Committee took place under the leadership of John Dingell. Dingell joined the committee in 1957 and continued serving on it for much of his career. Dingell helped increase the political power of the Subcommittee on Energy and Power. After twenty-five years in Congress, Dingell was promoted to head of the then Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce. Though many were opposed to its inclusion in the committee’s duties, Dingell continued to increase the amount of power that the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce had over energy in the United States. Because of this, he changed the name of the organization to the Energy and Commerce Committee.

In 1994, the House of Representatives switched to a Republican majority for the first time in forty years. The new chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee was Tom Billey, who wanted to scale back its power. He changed the named back to the Committee on Commerce and removed the committee’s power over railroads and inland waterways. Despite this, the Committee on Commerce still played a major role in the legislative process.

Billey retired in 2001 and Billy Tauzin became the committee’s chair. Tauzin was impressed by the committee’s previous accomplishments and wanted it to once again grow in influence. He changed the name back to the Energy and Commerce Committee and then negotiated with the Republican Party to expand its powers. Though Congress removed some of the committee’s power over the country’s financial sector, Tauzin secured the committee additional influence over environmental regulations.

In the twenty-first century, the Committee on Energy and Commerce has very broad legislative jurisdiction. Its five primary subcommittees and oversight subcommittee help govern areas ranging from interstate commerce to nuclear power to environmental regulations. The Committee on Energy and Commerce helps pass laws regarding healthcare throughout the United States and monitors the nation’s digital infrastructure. Additionally, the committee is responsible for overseeing numerous cabinet-level and independent agencies. These include the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and Department of Health and Human Services (HSS).

In the early twenty-first century, the Committee on Energy and Commerce helped battle the opioid crisis. It utilized its investigative tools to look into the root causes of the crisis and examined several bills to ensure that they properly proposed ways to prevent addiction and improve patient safety. Around the same time, the committee investigated how to fight mass automated phone calls and telemarketing scams.

Subcommittees

During the 119th Congress, which was in session from January 2025 to January 2027, the Energy and Commerce Committee had fifty-four members (thirty Republicans and twenty-four Democrats). The chair of the committee during 2025 was Brett Guthrie, a Republican from Kentucky. The Energy and Commerce Committee had five subcommittees. They were Communications and Technology, Energy, Environment, Health and Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade. It also had an Oversight and Investigations subcommittee.

United States House Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology

This subcommittee oversees electronic communications such as voice communications, video communications, data communications, and all data transmitted through the nation’s digital infrastructure. It also includes any international communications that travel through the United States via any method of communication.

This subcommittee also helps legislate on issues related to digital communications. These include cybersecurity, data security, and privacy. It also helps supervise the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and the Emergency Communications Division in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

United States House Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy

This subcommittee assists with legislation regarding the national energy policy. This includes exploring new methods of powering the nation, such as alternative energy sources and the expansion of clean energy. The committee also manages existing energy sources, such as fossil fuels and nuclear energy facilities. It helps supervise the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and advises the full committee on legislation involving those organizations. It also deals with all laws and federal programs having to do with the generation of power.

United States House Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Environment

The Subcommittee on Environment oversees all matters related to the natural environment. These include soil quality, air quality, water quality, and pollution. This leads to interaction with major polluting industries, such as the mining industry, fracking industry, and automotive industry as well as others that generate hazardous waste. The committee also interacts with industries that influence global climate change. Because the committee deals with the safety of nuclear plants and the nation’s infrastructure, it also has some jurisdiction over cyber security. It also has limited supervision of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

United States House Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health

The Subcommittee on Health has legislative jurisdiction over matters relating to the medical health of the nation. This includes infrastructure related to health, such as the construction of hospitals and emergency medical services. It also includes jurisdiction over biomedical research, the advancement of medical technology, and the advancement of the information technology that allows modern hospitals to function at high standards.

This subcommittee commonly deals with legislation relating to medical insurance. This includes private health insurance, public health insurance, and medical malpractice insurance. It deals with legislation that regulates food, medications, and drug abuse. It also helps oversee organizations that relate to these areas of jurisdiction, such as the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Indian Health Service (HIS), and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

United States House Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade

The Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade oversees all trade matters, consumer protections, motor vehicle safety and the regulation of commercial practices. Additionally, the committee oversees consumer product safety. 

United States House Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations

The Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations has broad jurisdiction. It is responsible for ensuring that all federal agencies and private entities that fall under the jurisdiction of the Energy and Commerce Committee are acting in an honest and a legal manner. To assist with this task, the subcommittee is authorized to conduct investigations into organizations that fall under the committee’s jurisdiction. To do this, the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations is authorized to use interviews, hearings, subpoenas, audits, and existing documentation.

Bibliography

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Kenton, Will. “Energy and Commerce Committee.” Investopedia, 14 May, 2018, www.investopedia.com/terms/e/energy-commerce-committee.asp. Accessed 30 Jan. 2025.

"Meet the Chairman." Energy and Commerce, 2025, energycommerce.house.gov/meet-the-chairman. Accessed 30 Jan. 2025. 

Ornstein, Norman. “A History of the House Energy & Commerce Committee.” United States Capitol Historical Society, uschs.org/explore/historical-articles/house-energy-commerce-committee-history/. Accessed 30 Jan. 2025.