![]() Activity fell sharply in the 115th Congress (2017-18), the first year of the Trump administration, under new Chair Trey Gowdy (R, S.C.), former chair of the House Select Committee on Benghazi. The committee was unusually active in the 113th and 114th Congresses (2013-16) under Chairs Darrell Issa (R, Cal.) and Jason Chaffetz (R, Utah), with each holding twice as many investigative hearings as the committee did during the two prior Congresses. In addition to its oversight hearings, the committee has maintained a strong schedule of policy and fact-finding hearings, while holding very few legislative hearings. In addition to its government operations subcommittee, which has legislative and oversight jurisdiction, it has five oversight subcommittees without legislative authority: civil rights and civil liberties economic and consumer policy environment national security and the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, established in April 2020. ![]() Once known as the Government Operations committee, it retains legislative authority over the District of Columbia, the Census, the Postal Service, the civil service, etc. ![]() Also unlike PSI, the House Oversight committee does not have a reputation for robust bipartisanship in the past many of its hearings and other activities have been highly partisan in nature. It less often conducts months-long probes like its Senate counterpart, the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI), and it rarely conducts private sector investigations. It tends to use its broad authority and large staff, which numbers close to 100, to hold hearings on news-making controversies and alleged scandals across the full range of government activities. It traditionally has by far the most active investigative oversight schedule, and by tradition other House committees cede some of their oversight responsibilities to the committee. This committee (known until the 116th Congress as the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform) is the House’s primary investigative committee.
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