Standing committees, not the full chambers, actually make congressional policy

Evidence

Thus the real locus of the legislative power is not in the House or Senate; it is in the standing committees. Students of the legislative process recognize that ‘the tendency … is for the standing committees to set policy that the whole legislature usually follows.’ What Miss Follett observed fifty-seven years ago is still trues 4Congress no longer exercises its lawful function of lawmaking; that has gone to the committees as completely as in England it has passed to the Cabinet.’” — Henry M. Hart, Jr. and Albert M. Sacks, The Legal Process, 4024

Categorization

• XREF: Links to the polyad’s law/institutions thread and the difference between formal and real loci of power — connects to delegation and legislative-body structure questions raised earlier in Volume 1. — connects to: Lawyer-legislators acted as agents for organized interests, not mere occupational representatives. — Henry M. Hart, Jr. and Albert M. Sacks, The Legal Process: Basic Problems in…, 4119; Appropriations committees hold a standing veto over policies Congress has already enacted — Henry M. Hart, Jr. and Albert M. Sacks, The Legal Process: Basic Problems in…, 2571; High republican ideals depend on mundane institutions like committees working reliably. — Philip Pettit, Republicanism: A Theory of Freedom and…, 1081 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• High republican ideals depend on mundane institutions like committees working reliably. #corroborates (0.85) — Philip Pettit, Republicanism, 1081
• Congress often acts as a ratifying agency for agreements reached outside it. #qualifies (0.80) — Henry M. Hart, Jr. and Albert M. Sacks, The Legal Process, 1379