What Powers Come with the Majority?
Author: Catherine Rowland, Director of Government Affairs and Access
When a new party gains the majority in the House or Senate, it brings more than just new Members. It can change how each chamber operates, which issues get attention, and, critically, which bills are considered and passed. For a bill to become law, both the House and Senate generally must approve it, and the president must sign it—unless Congress overrides a veto. The majority party also sets oversight priorities and gains greater control over the legislative process, while limiting the influence of Members in the minority.
This explainer breaks down key changes that can come with a new majority in Congress. Understanding how the majority exercises its power can help Members, advocates, and the public identify opportunities to advance priorities, hold the majority accountable, and use the tools available to them.
Crafting the Calendar & Day-to-Day Operations
The majority party sets the schedule for its chamber, deciding which weeks their chamber will be “in session” and which weeks will be “district work periods,” also known as “recess” or “district work weeks.”
When Congress is in session, Members are in Washington, D.C. for votes and committee activities. This is the only period during which Members can consider legislation and nominations or hold hearings, so calendar constraints significantly impact what Congress can do and when. During recess, Members typically return to their home states or districts.
The calendar can also affect how Congress functions. When Republicans took control of the House in 1995, then-Speaker Newt Gingrich structured the calendar to encourage Members to spend more time in their districts than in Washington. This made it harder for Members to socialize and develop working relationships—a change some scholars blame for heightened partisan rancor.
Congress’s schedule can also make it hard for parents and other caregivers to serve at all. Members have offered proposals to address these barriers to entry and, perhaps, make careers in Congress more viable for more people.
While the Senate’s rules carry over regardless of who holds the majority, the majority party in the House can more easily change its day-to-day operational rules. For example, on May 15, 2020, the Democratically-controlled House voted to let House Members to vote by proxy and for committees to conduct business virtually due to the pandemic. No Republicans supported the resolution.
The House majority can also change rules governing legislative debate. For example, at the beginning of the 117th Congress, the House Democratic majority modified the procedural “motion to recommit” (MTR), which had enabled the minority party to force “gotcha” votes on poison pill amendments.
Choosing Key Leadership Positions
As soon as the House convenes for a new Congress, the body votes publicly to elect a Speaker. In addition to deciding which bills the House votes on, the Speaker affects the entire House’s operations through their power to select key personnel, including the House’s Parliamentarian, Legislative Counsel, and Historian. The Speaker also appoints the director of the Congressional Budget Office, in conjunction with the Senate’s President Pro Tempore. Assuming the majority party is united behind a preferred Speaker candidate, that candidate should win the election.
The whole House elects additional critical figures, such as the Clerk and Sergeant at Arms. However, House Members within each party select individuals to serve in party leadership positions—such as the party leader and whip—in closed-door meetings.
Senators within each party elect their party’s leaders and whips. The whole Senate votes to elect the President Pro Tempore but, traditionally, the role goes to the most senior senator in the majority party. The President Pro Tempore presides over the Senate in the absence of its president, the Vice President of the United States. Similar to the House Speaker, the President Pro Tempore appoints several important figures in the chamber, such as the Senate’s Legislative Counsel.
Controlling the Floor
Deciding Which Legislation Moves
With limited exceptions, the House Speaker and Senate Majority Leader decide which legislation comes to the House or Senate floor, respectively, for a vote.
In the House, legislation that the Speaker selects goes before the Rules Committee. This body sets guidelines for legislative debate, including how long debate lasts and which amendments are considered. The resolution setting those parameters is called “the rule.” The Rules Committee must approve a rule for legislation that the House in turn must pass before voting on the legislation itself. Typically, the majority party votes for the rule and the minority party opposes it.
As such, the majority party in the House determines which legislation the House considers and how it considers that legislation—that is, whether amendments are allowed, how long debate lasts, and more.
The Senate, in contrast, does not have a House-style Rules Committee that can dictate the terms of debate for each bill. Instead, the Senate Majority Leader primarily exercises power by deciding which legislation and nominations receive floor time and negotiating agreements that structure debate and amendments. This gives the minority party in the Senate greater opportunity to extract concessions from the majority party’s leadership and influence how, when, and whether legislation reaches a final vote.
Approving Presidential Nominations
The Constitution gives the Senate an “advice and consent” role to approve nominees for positions in the executive and judicial branches, including on the Supreme Court. The House does not consider nominations. Unlike most legislation, which is subject to a 60-vote threshold to overcome the filibuster, the Senate can end debate on nominees with a simple majority vote.
Thwarting Presidential Policy
Congress can also block administration policies through the Congressional Review Act (CRA). Under the CRA, Congress has a limited period—roughly 60 days, depending on whether Congress is in session—after a federal agency issues a rule to pass a resolution of disapproval that prevents the rule from taking effect or nullifies it retroactively. The CRA also prevents agencies from issuing new rules that are substantially similar as one the CRA overturned, unless Congress explicitly allows it.
These resolutions must pass both chambers and can pass the Senate with a simple majority vote. Of course, a president may veto a resolution of disapproval to uphold their administration’s rule. However, Congress can override a veto with a two-thirds majority vote in each chamber.
Setting Committees' Agenda
Shaping Committees’ Legislative & Oversight Agenda
Committees are typically where legislation is developed, fine-tuned, and approved before advancing to the full House or Senate for a vote. The majority party decides which legislation a committee considers, as well as which topics merit public hearings and which subjects to investigate using a committee’s oversight authorities.
This agenda-setting power allows the majority to direct public attention to its preferred issues. On top of that, the majority oversees invitations for witnesses to testify before committees and usually invites more witnesses who share the majority’s viewpoint than the minority’s—in turn, amplifying their perspective.
The majority may even rename a committee or subcommittee to reframe its work. For example, the current House Education and Workforce Committee is typically called the House Education and Labor Committee when Democrats are in the majority.
Choosing Committee Chairs and Ranking Members
Each committee in the House and Senate has a Member of the majority party at its helm, presiding over committee proceedings and setting its agenda. This position is known as the committee “chair,” also referred to as chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson according to the Member’s preference.
In turn, a Member of the minority party serves as each committee’s ranking member. This role typically entails organizing the minority party Members around a message, amendment strategy, and vote recommendations.
Each party selects its committee chairs and ranking members, typically favoring Members with the most seniority on the committee, though this is not always the case. Both parties in the House and Senate have rules governing these selections and how long Members may serve in these roles. Notably, Republicans impose a three-term limit on committee leadership positions in both the majority and minority, although Members may request waivers to serve longer. Democrats have no comparable term limits.
Setting Committee Ratios
By deciding the ratio of committee seats allotted to each party, the majority improves the odds that its favored legislation will pass at the committee level.
In the House, the majority party determines the ratio of majority party Members to minority party Members on each committee. Majority party Members typically outnumber the minority, with the exception of the evenly-divided House Committee on Ethics.
In the Senate, an “organizing resolution” is adopted at the beginning of each Congress to determine committee assignments and ratios. Senate committee ratios also historically favor the majority party—but, unlike in the House, those ratios tend to mirror that of majority-to-minority Members in the chamber.
Ratios also affect committees’ ability to conduct investigations.
Most House committee chairs can authorize subpoenas for documents and testimony unilaterally without the ranking minority Member’s explicit approval, even though many committees have a minority consultation or notification requirement.
In the Senate, however, most committees require a majority vote or an agreement between the chair and ranking Member to issue a subpoena—meaning, the size of the Senate majority may help or hinder oversight efforts.
Inviting Speakers to Address Congress
The Speaker typically invites the president to address a joint session of Congress early each year, better known as the State of the Union. However, this is not required: in 2019, for example, during the then-longest government shutdown in history, Speaker Nancy Pelosi rescinded an invitation for President Donald Trump to deliver the State of the Union until after the government reopened.
The Speaker may also invite foreign leaders to address Congress, traditionally in consultation with the executive branch. Again, though, this is not required: in 2015, for example, Speaker John Boehner invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address Congress without consulting President Barack Obama. The affront was considered particularly egregious given Prime Minister Netanyahu’s vocal opposition to the nuclear agreement the Obama administration was negotiating with Iran. This example demonstrates how the majority party’s convening power may be used to thwart the White House’s agenda or embarrass the president.