Committees That You Can Follow for News on the Budget and Economy


HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
  1. Committee on Appropriations http://appropriations.house.gov/ Broad responsibility over the federal budget, click on the website to see the exact jurisdiction.
  2. Committee on the Budget http://budget.house.gov/ Responsible for budget process generally, as well as establishment, extension and control of special controls over Federal budget including offbudget federal agencies and more. Read their jurisdiction page.
  3. Joint Committee on Taxation http://www.jct.gov/ A bicameral Congressional Committee composed of ten members from each the Senate and the House of Representatives; it’s main purpose is to make a continuing study of matters relating to the US economy.  The Committee holds hearings, performs research and advises Members of Congress.
  4. House Committee on Financial Services http://financialservices.house.gov/ The Committee oversees all components of the nation's housing and financial services sectors including banking, insurance, real estate, public and assisted housing, and securities.
  5. Committee on Ways and Means http://waysandmeans.house.gov/ The oldest committee of the United States Congress, this is the chief tax-writing committee in the House of Representatives.

SENATE
Note: Links to all the standing committees as well as joint and special committees can also be found on the U.S. Senate website.

  1. Appropriations http://appropriations.senate.gov/ The largest committee in the U.S. Senate has legislative jurisdiction over appropriations bills, which provide funding for government programs. 
  2. Banking, Housing, & Urban Affairs http://banking.senate.gov/public/ Areas of jurisdiction include, but are not limited to: “banking, insurance, financial markets, securities, housing, urban development and mass transit, international trade and finance, and economic policy” (an official list of these legislative and policy issues can be found in the “Jurisdiction” section of their website). 
  3. Budget http://budget.senate.gov/ The Budget Committee is responsible for drafting Congress' annual budget plan and monitoring action on the budget for the Federal Government; the website is broken into Democrat and Republican sites.