List of defunct United States congressional committees
The United States Congress has operated with more than 1500 standing, special, select, or joint committees over the years.
Most of these committees are now defunct. In some cases, their responsibilities were merged with those of other committees. For others, the committee remained in existence, but its name was changed. However, the bulk of committees were eliminated because they served a single purpose or it was deemed that subject matter no longer merited its own committee.
These lists contain both select and standing committees. When known, the committee's type, years, reason for elimination, and any successor committees are noted. Some committees, such as the myriad "Committee to Investigate," are included in the list alphabetically by the primary subject matter being studied or investigated.
Early select committees were very fluid, serving their established function and then going out of existence. This makes tracking committees difficult, since many committees were known by the date they were created or by a petition or other document that had been referred to them. In a number of instances, the official journal and other congressional publications did not consistently refer to an individual committee by the same title. Though such inconsistencies still appeared during the 20th century, they were less frequent. Therefore, this list does include hundreds of select committees established by Congress during its early years, particularly prior to 1795 and 1816, when a system of permanent standing committees was established in the House of Representatives and the Senate respectively. The majority of these committees were assigned specific legislative bills, but many served merely ceremonial functions.
In the 1st Congress, the House appointed about 220 select committees over the course of two years. By the 3rd Congress, Congress had three permanent standing committees, the House Committee on Elections, the House Committee on Claims, and the Joint Committee on Enrolled Bills, but more than 350 select committees. While the modern committee system is now firmly established in both House and Senate procedure, with the rules of each House establishing a full range of permanent standing committees and assigning jurisdiction of all legislative issues among them, select committees continue to be used to respond to unique and difficult issues as the need arises.
Shading key:
| Select | Special | Standing |
Defunct House committees
| Committee | Established | Terminated | Notes |
| Alleged Abstraction of Books from the Library of the House | Investigation of rumors that representatives from southern seceding states had stolen books from the House library. | ||
| Alleged Abstraction of a Report from the Clerk's Office | Investigation into the disappearance of a committee report from the Select Committee on Government Contracts | ||
| Accountability of Public Moneys | Select committee expired | ||
| Accounts | Merged with House Administration | ||
| Admission to the Floor | Select committee expired | ||
| Affairs with Algiers | Select committee expired | ||
| Aging | Terminated at the end of the 102nd Congress. Committee not renewed during the 103rd Congress. | ||
| Memorial of the Agricultural Bank of Mississippi | Memorial requesting forgiveness of a debt to the United States. | ||
| Air Accidents | Select committee expired | ||
| Air Services | Select committee expired | ||
| Alabama’s Admission to the Union | Select committee expired | ||
| Alabama Affairs | Select committee expired | ||
| Alcoholic Liquor Traffic | Became a standing committee | ||
| Alcoholic Liquor Traffic | |||
| Alleged Assault on Senator Sumner | Select committee expired | ||
| Amendment to the Constitution | Amendment related to the Election of President and Vice President; Select committee expired | ||
| Amendment to the Constitution | Amendment related to the Appointment of Members of Congress to office; Select committee expired | ||
| American Colonization Society | Memorial of the American Colonization Society; Select committee expired | ||
| American Retail Federation | Select committee expired | ||
| American Ship building | Select committee expired | ||
| American Sugar Refining Company | |||
| Anthracite Emergency Program | Program to stabilize the Pennsylvania coal industry. Not authorized to hold hearings and no appropriations were authorized for it. | ||
| Apportionment of Representatives | Bring a Bill for the Apportionment of Representatives; Select committee expired | ||
| Apportionment of Representatives | Apportionment of Representatives under the 4th Census; Select committee expired | ||
| Apportionment of Representatives | Apportionment of Representatives under the Next Census; Select committee expired | ||
| Apportionment of Representatives | Apportionment of Representatives under the 6th Census; Select committee expired | ||
| Arkansas Affairs | Select committee expired | ||
| Arkansas Territory | Select committee expired | ||
| Arkansas Territorial Limits | Select committee expired | ||
| Arms Contracts | Select committee expired | ||
| Arms Exports | Select committee expired | ||
| Army Appropriations Inquiry | Select committee expired | ||
| Army Pay | Bill to Regulate Army Pay; Select committee expired | ||
| Army Regulations | Select committee expired | ||
| Army Supply Contracts | Select committee expired | ||
| Assassinations | Investigation into the Assassinations of President John. F. Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.; Select committee expired | ||
| Assault on the President’s Secretary | Select committee expired | ||
| Establishing an Assay Office in the Gold Region | |||
| Export Control | Select committee expired |