Summary

The United States Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs is the chief oversight committee of the United States Senate. It has jurisdiction over matters related to the Department of Homeland Security and other homeland security concerns, as well as the functioning of the government itself, including the National Archives, budget and accounting measures other than appropriations, the Census, the federal civil service, the affairs of the District of Columbia, and the United States Postal Service. The committee had been called the United States Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs before homeland security was added to its responsibilities in 2004.[1]The committee serves as the Senate's chief investigative and oversight committee. The chair of the committee is the only committee chair in the Senate with the power to issue subpoenas without a committee vote, though in practice, such unilateral subpoenas have rarely been issued in recent years.

jurisdiction

The Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs (HSGAC) is the Senate’s primary oversight committee with broad jurisdiction over government operations generally and the Department of Homeland Security in particular. Its primary responsibilities are to study the efficiency, economy, and effectiveness of all agencies and departments of the federal government; evaluate the effects of laws enacted to reorganize the legislative and executive branches of government; and study the intergovernmental relationships between the U.S. and states and municipalities, and between the U.S. and international organizations of which the U.S. is a member.

The year after passage of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, the Committee's name changed from the Governmental Affairs Committee to the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee as its jurisdiction expanded to include homeland security issues. In addition to governmental affairs, the Committee now oversees and receives legislation, messages, petitions, and memorials on all matters relating to the Department of Homeland Security, except for appropriations, the Coast Guard, the Transportation Security Administration, immigration, customs revenue, commercial operations, and trade.

Among the Committee’s governmental affairs responsibilities are the Archives of the United States, budgeting and accounting measures generally, government contracting, the Census and collection of statistics, Congressional organization, the federal Civil Service, government information, intergovernmental relations, the municipal affairs of the District of Columbia, the organization and management of U.S. nuclear export policy, the organization and reorganization of the executive branch, the Postal Service, and the status of officers and employees of the U.S., including their classification, compensation, and benefits. The Committee also receives and examines reports of the Comptroller General of the United States and submits recommendations to the Senate as it sees fit related to the subject matter of the reports.