Armed Services Committees

Congressional committees charged with overseeing the armed services of the United States. The U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services and the House Armed Services Committee were both created as a result of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 following World War II. That act contained a number of initiatives to enhance and institutionalize congressional oversight, best indicated by the fact that it was the first statute to ever use the word “oversight.”

As established by the Legislative Reorganization Act, the standing committees of the House and Senate were directed to maintain “continuous watchfulness” of the administration of laws and programs over which they had jurisdiction. The act was also the first in U.S. history to authorize permanent professional and clerical staff for committees. Thus, the establishment of the congressional armed services committees may be understood as part of the broader expansion of the federal government following World War II and the evolving role of the U.S. Congress in the federal bureaucracy.

Precedents for the Committees

The roots of the armed services committees can be traced as far back as the American Revolution, when the Continental Congress created special subcommittees to supervise issues ranging from hospitals to cannons to muskets. These subcommittees were merged into the Board of War and the Marine Committee, although they were purely investigative and wielded no authority. The first congressional committee specifically devoted to military affairs was organized to investigate the defeat of General Arthur St. Clair by the Miami Indians in 1782.

The jurisdiction of both the U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services and the House Armed Services Committee is based largely on the powers granted to Congress in Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution. That article gives Congress responsibility to provide for the “common defense,” raise and support armies, provide and maintain a navy, and oversee other actions involved with regulating, organizing, arming, and disciplining the military, as well as to exercise exclusive legislative authority over all property purchased for forts, arsenals, dockyards, and buildings of military use.

The Committees

The Senate Committee on Armed Services consolidated the responsibilities of the Senate Naval Affairs Committee and the Senate Military Affairs Committee, both of which were established in 1816. The Senate committee has legislative oversight of the country's military. Its responsibilities include the Selective Service System; military benefits, pay, promotion, retirement, and the education of civilian and military dependents; military research and development; nuclear energy (as a matter of national security); aeronautical and space activities related to military operations or the development of weapons systems; the common defense; and the U.S. Department of Defense.

The Senate Committee on Armed Services is divided into six subcommittees. Each subcommittee is chaired by a member of the majority party in the Senate, who is not permitted to chair the full committee. Each subcommittee also has a ranking opposition leader. The Subcommittee on Airland has jurisdiction over Army and Air Force operations, bases, and appropriations. The Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities, established in 1999, focuses on “nontraditional threats,” such as international and domestic terrorism. The Subcommittee on Personnel deals with matters relating to active-duty and reserve military personnel, including pay rates, benefits, training [Page 35]programs, and military justice. The Subcommittee on Seapower oversees the U.S. Navy and Navy Reserve. The Subcommittee on Readiness and Management Support oversees military preparedness, logistics, environmental issues, business operations, real property maintenance, working capital funds, base realignment and closure, military construction, the Armed Forces Retirement Home, readiness and procurement, and depots and shipyards. The Subcommittee on Strategic Forces oversees legislation relating to nuclear weapons, national defense, and nuclear deterrence.

...