United States Senate Committee on Rules and Administration

The Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, also called the Senate Rules and Administration Committee, is responsible for the rules of the United States Senate, administration of congressional buildings, and with credentials and qualifications of members of the Senate, including responsibility for contested elections. The committee is not as powerful as its House counterpart, the House Committee on Rules, as it does not set the terms of debate for individual legislative proposals, since the Senate has a tradition of open debate. Some members of the committee are also ex officio members of the Joint Committee on the Library and the Joint Committee on Printing.

Senate Rules and Administration Committee
Standing committee
Active United States Senate 119th Congress
History
Formed	December 9, 1874
Leadership
Chair	Mitch McConnell (R) Since January 3, 2025
Ranking member	Alex Padilla (D) Since January 3, 2025
Structure
Political parties	Majority (9) Republican (9) Minority (8) Democratic (8)
Jurisdiction
Policy areas	Books, manuscripts and monuments to the memory of individuals, Congressional office buildings, Congressional Record, Corrupt practices, Credentials and qualifications of members of the Senate, Federal elections generally, Government Publishing Office, meetings of the Congress and attendance of members, Presidential succession, Senate library, statuary and works of art in the Capitol, Smithsonian Institution, Standing Rules of the United States Senate, United States Botanic Garden
Oversight authority	Architect of the Capitol, Congressional Research Service, FEC, EAC, GPO, Historian of the United States Senate, Library of Congress, Parliamentarian of the United States Senate, Secretary of the Senate, Sergeant at Arms of the United States Senate, Smithsonian Institution, United States Botanic Gardens, United States Senate Curator, United States Senate Library
House counterpart	House Administration Committee House Rules Committee
Website
https://www.rules.senate.gov/
Rules
Rule XXV.1.(n), Standing Rules of the Senate

History

The Committee was first created as the Select Committee to Revise the Rules of the Senate on December 3, 1867. On December 9, 1874, it became a standing committee.

On January 2, 1947, its name was changed to the Committee on Rules and Administration, and it took over the functions of the following committees:

Committee to Audit and Control the Contingent Expenses of the Senate
Committee on Education and Labor (functions were later transferred to Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee)
Committee on Enrolled Bills
Committee on Privileges and Elections

Jurisdiction

In accordance of Rule XXV of the United States Senate, all proposed legislation, messages, petitions, memorials, and other matters relating primarily to the following subjects is referred to the Senate Rules Committee:

Administration of the Senate Office Buildings and the Senate wing of the Capitol, including the assignment of office space;
Congressional organization relative to rules and procedures, and Senate rules and regulations, including floor and gallery rules;
Corrupt practices;
Credentials and qualifications of Members of the Senate, contested elections, and acceptance of incompatible offices;
Federal elections generally, including the election of the President, Vice President, and Members of the Congress;
Nominations to fill a vacancy in the Vice Presidency;
Government Printing Office, and the printing and correction of the Congressional Record, as well as those matters provided for under rule XI;
Meetings of the Congress and attendance of Members;
Payment of money out of the contingent fund of the Senate or creating a charge upon the same (except that any resolution relating to substantive matter within the jurisdiction of any other standing committee of the Senate shall be first referred to such committee);
Presidential succession;
Purchase of books and manuscripts and erection of monuments to the memory of individuals;
Senate Library and statuary, art, and pictures in the Capitol and Senate Office Buildings;
Services to the Senate, including the Senate restaurant; and,
United States Capitol and congressional office buildings, the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian Institution (and the incorporation of similar institutions), and the Botanic Gardens.

The Senate Rules Committee is also charged:

To make a continuing study of the organization and operation of the Congress of the United States and shall recommend improvements in such organization and operation with a view toward strengthening the Congress, simplifying its operations, improving its relationships with other branches of the United States Government, and enabling it better to meet its responsibilities under the Constitution of the United States;
To identify any court proceeding or action which, in the opinion of the Committee, is of vital interest to the Congress as a constitutionally established institution of the Federal Government and call such proceeding or action to the attention of the Senate; and,
To develop, implement, and update as necessary a strategic planning process and a strategic plan for the functional and technical infrastructure support of the Senate and provide oversight over plans developed by Senate officers and others in accordance with the strategic planning process.

Members, 119th Congress

Majority	Minority
Mitch McConnell, Kentucky, Chair Ted Cruz, Texas Shelley Moore Capito, West Virginia Roger Wicker, Mississippi Deb Fischer, Nebraska Cindy Hyde-Smith, Mississippi Bill Hagerty, Tennessee Katie Britt, Alabama John Boozman, Arkansas	Alex Padilla, California, Ranking Member Chuck Schumer, New York Mark Warner, Virginia Amy Klobuchar, Minnesota Jeff Merkley, Oregon Jon Ossoff, Georgia Michael Bennet, Colorado Peter Welch, Vermont

Committee leadership

Former chairs and ranking members are listed below.

Chairs

Select Committee to Revise the Rules of the Senate, 1867–1874

Name	Party	State	Start	End
Henry Anthony	Republican	Rhode Island	1867	1871
Samuel Pomeroy		Kansas	1871	1873
Thomas Ferry		Michigan	1873	1874

Committee on Rules, 1874–1947

Name	Party	State	Start	End
Thomas Ferry	Republican	Michigan	1874	1877
James Blaine	Republican	Maine	1877	1879
John Morgan	Democratic	Alabama	1879	1881
William Frye	Republican	Maine	1881	1887
Nelson Aldrich	Republican	Rhode Island	1887	1893
Joseph Blackburn	Democratic	Kentucky	1893	1895
Nelson Aldrich	Republican	Rhode Island	1895	1899
John Spooner		Wisconsin	1899	1907
Philander Knox		Pennsylvania	1907	1909
Murray Crane		Massachusetts	1909	1913
Lee Overman	Democratic	North Carolina	1913	1919
Philander Knox	Republican	Pennsylvania	1919	1921
Charles Curtis		Kansas	1921	1929
George Moses		New Hampshire	1929	1933
Royal Copeland	Democratic	New York	1933	1936
Matthew Neely		West Virginia	1936	1941
Harry Byrd		Virginia	1941	1947

Committee on Rules and Administration, 1947–present

Name	Party	State	Start	End
Wayland Brooks	Republican	Illinois	1947	1949
Carl Hayden	Democratic	Arizona	1949	1953
William Jenner	Republican	Indiana	1953	1955
Theodore Green	Democratic	Rhode Island	1955	1957
Thomas Hennings		Missouri	1957	1960
Mike Mansfield		Montana	1960	1963
Everett Jordan		North Carolina	1963	1973
Howard Cannon		Nevada	1973	1978
Claiborne Pell		Rhode Island	1978	1981
Charles Mathias	Republican	Maryland	1981	1987
Wendell Ford	Democratic	Kentucky	1987	1995
Ted Stevens	Republican	Alaska	1995
John Warner		Virginia	1995	1999
Mitch McConnell		Kentucky	1999	2001
Chris Dodd	Democratic	Connecticut	2001
Mitch McConnell	Republican	Kentucky	2001
Chris Dodd	Democratic	Connecticut	2001	2003
Trent Lott	Republican	Mississippi	2003	2007
Dianne Feinstein	Democratic	California	2007	2009
Chuck Schumer	Democratic	New York	2009	2015
Roy Blunt	Republican	Missouri	2015	2017
Richard Shelby		Alabama	2017	2018
Roy Blunt		Missouri	2018	2021
Amy Klobuchar	Democratic	Minnesota	2021	2025
Mitch McConnell	Republican	Kentucky	2025	present

Ranking members

Select Committee to Revise the Rules of the Senate, 1867–1874

Name	Party	State	Start	End
Vacant			1867	1871
Thomas Bayard	Democratic	Delaware	1871	1873
Augustus Merrimon	Democratic	North Carolina	1873	1874

Committee on Rules, 1874–1947

Name	Party	State	Start	End
Augustus Merrimon	Democratic	North Carolina	1874	1879
James Blaine	Republican	Maine	1879	1881
Wilkinson Call	Democratic	Florida	1881	1883
Isham Harris	Democratic	Tennessee	1883	1893
Nelson Aldrich	Republican	Rhode Island	1893	1895
Joseph Blackburn	Democratic	Kentucky	1895	1897
Isham Harris		Tennessee	1897
Arthur Gorman		Maryland	1897	1899
Henry Teller		Colorado	1899	1907
Augustus Bacon		Georgia	1907	1913
Francis Warren	Republican	Wyoming	1913	1915
Jacob Gallinger		New Hampshire	1915	1918
Francis Warren		Wyoming	1918	1919
Lee Overman	Democratic	North Carolina	1919	1930
Pat Harrison		Mississippi	1930	1931
Joseph Robinson		Arkansas	1931	1933
Frederick Hale	Republican	Maine	1933	1941
Arthur Vandenberg	Republican	Michigan	1941	1947

Committee on Rules and Administration, 1947–present

Name	Party	State	Start	End
Carl Hayden	Democratic	Arizona	1947	1949
Kenneth Wherry	Republican	Nebraska	1949	1951
Henry Lodge	Republican	Massachusetts	1951	1953
Carl Hayden	Democratic	Arizona	1953	1955
William Jenner	Republican	Indiana	1955	1957
Carl Curtis		Nebraska	1957	1971
Winston Prouty		Vermont	1971
Ted Stevens		Alaska	1971	1972
Marlow Cook		Kentucky	1972	1974
Mark Hatfield		Oregon	1975	1981
Wendell Ford	Democratic	Kentucky	1981	1987
Ted Stevens	Republican	Alaska	1987	1995
Wendell Ford	Democratic	Kentucky	1995	1999
Chris Dodd	Democratic	Connecticut	1999	2001
Mitch McConnell	Republican	Kentucky	2001
Chris Dodd	Democratic	Connecticut	2001
Mitch McConnell	Republican	Kentucky	2001	2003
Chris Dodd	Democratic	Connecticut	2003	2007
Bob Bennett	Republican	Utah	2007	2011
Lamar Alexander		Tennessee	2011	2013
Pat Roberts		Kansas	2013	2015
Chuck Schumer	Democratic	New York	2015	2017
Amy Klobuchar	Democratic	Minnesota	2017	2021
Roy Blunt	Republican	Missouri	2021	2023
Deb Fischer	Republican	Nebraska	2023	2025
Alex Padilla	Democratic	California	2025	present

Historical committee rosters

118th Congress

Majority	Minority
Amy Klobuchar, Minnesota, Chair Dianne Feinstein, California (until September 29, 2023) Chuck Schumer, New York Mark Warner, Virginia Jeff Merkley, Oregon Alex Padilla, California Jon Ossoff, Georgia Michael Bennet, Colorado Peter Welch, Vermont Laphonza Butler, California (from October 17, 2023)	Deb Fischer, Nebraska, Ranking Member Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Ted Cruz, Texas Shelley Moore Capito, West Virginia Roger Wicker, Mississippi Cindy Hyde-Smith, Mississippi Bill Hagerty, Tennessee Katie Britt, Alabama

117th Congress

Majority	Minority
Amy Klobuchar, Minnesota, Chair Dianne Feinstein, California Chuck Schumer, New York Mark Warner, Virginia Patrick Leahy, Vermont Angus King, Maine Jeff Merkley, Oregon Alex Padilla, California Jon Ossoff, Georgia	Roy Blunt, Missouri, Ranking Member Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Richard Shelby, Alabama Ted Cruz, Texas Shelley Moore Capito, West Virginia Roger Wicker, Mississippi Deb Fischer, Nebraska Cindy Hyde-Smith, Mississippi Bill Hagerty, Tennessee

116th Congress

Majority	Minority
Roy Blunt, Missouri, Chair Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Richard Shelby, Alabama Pat Roberts, Kansas Lamar Alexander, Tennessee Ted Cruz, Texas Shelley Moore Capito, West Virginia Roger Wicker, Mississippi Deb Fischer, Nebraska Cindy Hyde-Smith, Mississippi	Amy Klobuchar, Minnesota, Ranking Member Dianne Feinstein, California Chuck Schumer, New York Dick Durbin, Illinois Tom Udall, New Mexico Mark Warner, Virginia Patrick Leahy, Vermont Angus King, Maine Catherine Cortez Masto, Nevada

115th Congress

Majority	Minority
Roy Blunt, Missouri, Chair (from April 10, 2018) Thad Cochran, Mississippi (until April 1, 2018) Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Richard Shelby, Alabama, Chair (until April 10, 2018) Pat Roberts, Kansas Lamar Alexander, Tennessee Ted Cruz, Texas Shelley Moore Capito, West Virginia Roger Wicker, Mississippi Deb Fischer, Nebraska Cindy Hyde-Smith, Mississippi	Amy Klobuchar, Minnesota, Ranking Member Dianne Feinstein, California Chuck Schumer, New York Dick Durbin, Illinois Tom Udall, New Mexico Mark Warner, Virginia Patrick Leahy, Vermont Angus King, Maine Catherine Cortez Masto, Nevada

Source: "U.S. Senate Committee on Rules and Administration". Senate rules committee website. Retrieved April 11, 2018.

114th Congress

Majority	Minority
Roy Blunt, Missouri, Chair Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Thad Cochran, Mississippi Pat Roberts, Kansas Lamar Alexander, Tennessee Richard Shelby, Alabama Ted Cruz, Texas Shelley Moore Capito, West Virginia John Boozman, Arkansas Roger Wicker, Mississippi	Chuck Schumer, New York, Ranking Member Dianne Feinstein, California Dick Durbin, Illinois Tom Udall, New Mexico Mark Warner, Virginia Patrick Leahy, Vermont Amy Klobuchar, Minnesota Angus King, Maine

Source: 2013 Congressional Record, Vol. 159, Page S296 to 297