This small, nine-member committee oversees the day-to-day operations of the House of Representatives, in particular by setting the budgets for House committees and expenses for members. It is also responsible for oversight of federal elections, and at times has produced significant electoral reforms. In addition, it oversees such offices and institutions as the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian, the Government Publishing Office, the Architect of the Capitol and the Capitol Police, which has 2,300 civilian and uniformed personnel, roughly twice the size of the police force of Cincinnati. The committee had two subcommittees during the 111th and 112th Congresses (2009-2012), one on elections and one on oversight, but they were abolished in the 113th Congress (2013-2014). For the 116th Congress (2019-20) it re-established a subcommittee on elections.

In keeping with its largely administrative mandate and small size, the committee holds only a handful of hearings each year. It conducts almost no investigative oversight hearings. The 26 hearings it held in the 116th Congress under new Chair Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) was a record for the period. Many of those hearings concerned voting rights and voting administration, both nationally and in various states during the run-up to the 2020 presidential election, which President Trump frequently charged would be fraudulent. It held no investigative oversight hearings.

Chairs

111th Congress: Bob Brady (D-PA)

112th Congress: Dan Lungren (R-CA)

113th Congress: Candice Miller (R-MI)

114th Congress: Candice Miller (R-MI)

115th Congress: Gregg Harper (R-MS)

116th Congress: Zoe Lofgren (D-CA)

117th Congress: Zoe Lofgren (D-CA)