two-thirds vote.

The Senate is now divided into between fifty and sixty committees, but
the number varies from session to session. The principal committees are
those on (1) Foreign Relations, (2) Privileges and Elections, (3)
Judiciary, (4) Commerce, (5) Finance, and (6) Appropriations. The Senate
selects the members for the different committees by ballot, though it is
pretty well determined beforehand how each committee shall be
constituted by means of party caucuses (informal meetings of members of
the same party to determine upon lines of action that will be supported
by all). A committee is always composed of an odd number of members, and
both political parties are always represented on every committee, though
the majority is, in almost all cases, from that party which has the
majority of the members of the Senate.

The House of Representatives is organized into sixty committees,
ranging, in their number of members, from thirteen down. As regards
party representation, their constitution is similar to that of the
Senate Committees. The Committee of "Ways and Means," which regulates
customs duties and excise taxes, is by far the most important.

Other important committees are those on (1) Elections, (2)
Appropriations, (3) Judiciary, (4) Foreign Affairs, (5) Manufactures,
(6) Commerce, (7) Labor. Every Representative is on one committee, and
most of them on several. Unlike the custom in the Senate, in the House
the presiding officer has the sole power of appointment, which makes
him, next to the President, the most important and powerful government
official. The chairman of each committee has, of course, a large power
over affairs with which his committee is concerned, and for this reason
it is often said that it is the chairmen of these committees who rule