Committee on Ways and Means
119th United States Congress
Republican Majority Logo (119th Congress)
History
Founded	December 21, 1795 (1795-12-21)
New session started	January 3, 2025 (2025-01-03)
Leadership
Chair	Jason Smith (R) since January 10, 2023
Ranking Member	Richard Neal (D) since January 10, 2023
Structure
Seats	43 members
Political groups	Majority  Republican (25) Minority  Democratic (18)
Joint committees	Senate equivalent:Senate Finance Committee
Website
waysandmeans.house.gov (Republican) democrats-waysandmeans.house.gov (Democratic)

TheCommittee on Ways and Means is the chieftax-writingcommittee of theUnited States House of Representatives. The committee has jurisdiction over alltaxation,tariffs, and other revenue-raising measures, as well as a number of other programs includingSocial Security,unemployment benefits,Medicare, the enforcement ofchild support laws,Temporary Assistance for Needy Families,foster care, andadoption programs. Members of the Ways and Means Committee are not allowed to serve on any other House Committee unless they are granted a waiver from their party's congressional leadership. It has long been regarded as the most prestigious committee of the House of Representatives.^[1]

TheUnited States Constitution requires that all bills regarding taxation must originate in the U.S. House of Representatives, and House rules dictate that all bills regarding taxation must pass through Ways and Means. This system imparts upon the committee and its members a significant degree of influence over other representatives, committees, and public policy. Its Senate counterpart is theU.S. Senate Committee on Finance.

In the119th Congress, the committee's chair isJason T. Smith.^[2] Recent chairs have includedBill Thomas,Charlie Rangel,Sander Levin,Dave Camp,Paul Ryan,Kevin Brady, andRichard Neal.

The Ways and Means Committee was first established during the first Congress, in 1789. However, this initial version was disbanded after only 8 weeks; for the next several years, only ad hoc committees were formed, to write up laws on notions already debated in the whole House. It was first established as a standing committee by resolution adopted December 21, 1795,^[3] and first appeared among the list of regular standing committees on January 7, 1802.^[4] Upon its original creation, it held power over both taxes and spending, until the spending power was given to the newAppropriations Committee in 1865.^[5]

During the Civil War the key policy-maker in Congress wasThaddeus Stevens, as chair of the committee and Republican floor leader. He took charge of major legislation that funded the war effort and permanently transformed the nation's economic policies regarding tariffs, bonds, income and excise taxes, national banks, suppression of money issued by state banks, greenback currency, and western railroad land grants.^[6] Stevens was one of the major policymakers regarding Reconstruction, and obtained a House vote of impeachment against PresidentAndrew Johnson (who was acquitted by the Senate in 1868).Hans L. Trefousse, his leading biographer, concludes that Stevens "was one of the most influential representatives ever to serve in Congress. [He dominated] the House with his wit, knowledge of parliamentary law, and sheer willpower, even though he was often unable to prevail."^[7] Historiographical views of Stevens have dramatically shifted over the years, from the early 20th-century view of Stevens and theRadical Republicans as tools of enormous business and motivated by hatred of the white South, to the perspective of theneoabolitionists of the 1950s and afterwards, who applauded their efforts to give equal rights to the freed slaves.^{[citation needed]}

Three future presidents –James Polk,Millard Fillmore, andWilliam McKinley – served as committee chair. Before the official roles offloor leader came about in the late 19th century, the chair of Ways and Means was considered the Majority Leader. The chair is one of very few Representatives to have office space within the Capitol building itself.^[8]

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Because of its wide jurisdiction, Ways and Means has always been one of the most important committees with respect to impact on policy. Although it lacks the prospects for reelection help that comes with theAppropriations Committee, it is seen as a valuable post for two reasons: given the wide array of interests that are affected by the committee, a seat makes it easy to collectcampaign contributions^[9] and since its range is broad, members with a wide array of policy concerns often seek positions to be able to influence policy decisions. Some recent major issues that have gone through the Ways and Means Committee includewelfare reform, a Medicareprescription drug benefit,Social Security reform,George W. Bush's tax cuts, and trade agreements including theNorth American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and theCentral America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA).

From 1911 to 1974, the Ways and Means Committee also had the responsibility to appoint members of other committees in addition to its legislative duties.^[10] When Ways and Means chairWilbur Mills' career ended in scandal, CongressmanPhillip Burton transferred the committee's selection powers to a separate, newly created committee.^[10]

Resolutions electing members:H.Res. 13 (chair),H.Res. 14 (Ranking Member),H.Res. 21 (R),H.Res. 22 (D)

There are six subcommittees in the 118th Congress. In 2011, theSubcommittee on Income Security and Family Support was renamed the Subcommittee on Human Resources, returning to the name it held prior to the110th United States Congress.^[12] In 2015, theSelect Revenue Measures was renamed the Subcommittee on Tax Policy.^[13] In 2019 these two subcommittees were again renamed under Democratic control; Human Resources became Worker and Family Support and Tax Policy was renamed to Select Revenue Measures. In 2023 and under a return to Republican control, they were again renamed to Work and Welfare and Tax respectively.

Resolutions electing members:H.Res. 14 (chair),H.Res. 15 (Ranking Member),H.Res. 56 (R),H.Res. 57 (D),H.Res. 999 (Gomez),H.Res. 1431 (Horsford)

Subcommittees

Resolutions electing members:H.Res. 9 (chair),H.Res. 10 (Ranking Member),H.Res. 62 (D),H.Res. 63 (R),H.Res. 875 (R),H.Res. 1159 (R)

Subcommittees

Resolutions electing members:H.Res. 7 (chair);H.Res. 8 (Ranking Member),H.Res. 42 (D),H.Res. 68 (R)

Subcommittee

• Resolutions electing members:H.Res. 6 (chair);H.Res. 7 (Ranking Member);H.Res. 29,H.Res. 131, (R);H.Res. 45,H.Res. 95 (D)

• List of United States House of Representatives committees
• Trump v. Mazars USA, LLP

• H. Doc. 100–244, The Committee on Ways and Means a Bicentennial History 1789-1989

• Cataldo, Everett Felix. "The House Committee on Ways and Means" (PhD dissertation, The Ohio State University, 1965)online^{[dead link]}.
• Curtis, Thomas B. "The House Committee on Ways and Means: Congress Seen Through a Key Committee."Wisconsin Law Review(1966): 121+online.
• Davidson, Roger.Masters of the House: Congressional leadership over two centuries (Routledge, 2018)
• Kennon, Donald R., and Rebecca Mary Rogers.The Committee on Ways and Means: A Bicentennial History 1789–1989 (US Government Printing Office, 1989).
• Manley, John F. "The House Committee on Ways and Means: Conflict management in a congressional committee."American Political Science Review 59.4 (1965): 927–939.
• Manley, John F.The politics of finance: the House Committee on Ways and Means ( Little, Brown, 1970).
• Sullivan, Terry. "Voter's paradox and logrolling: An initial framework for committee behavior on appropriations and ways and means."Public Choice (1976): 31–44.online
• Winfree, Paul.A History (and Future) of the Budget Process in the United States (Springer Nature, 2019).

• Rangel, Charles B.; Wynter, Leon (2007).And I Haven't Had a Bad Day Since: From the Streets of Harlem to the Halls of Congress. New York: St. Martin's Press.

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• House Ways and Means Committee. Legislation activity and reports, Congress.gov.
• House Ways and Means Committee Hearings and Meetings Video.Congress.gov.

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