United States Senate Committee on Civil Service is a defunct committee of the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

The first standing Senate committee with jurisdiction over the

civil service The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

was the United States Senate Committee on Civil Service and

Retrenchment Retrenchment (french: retrenchment, an old form of ''retranchement'', from ''retrancher'', to cut down, cut short) is an act of cutting down or reduction, particularly of public expenditure. Political usage The word is familiar in its most general ...

, which was established on December 4, 1873, following unanimous approval of a resolution introduced by

Henry B. Anthony Henry Bowen Anthony (April 1, 1815 – September 2, 1884) was a United States newspaperman and political figure. He served as editor and was later part owner of the ''Providence Journal''. He was the 21st Governor of Rhode Island, serving betwee ...

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...

. On April 18, 1921, the committee was renamed the United States Senate Committee on Civil Service. The

Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 The Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 (also known as the Congressional Reorganization Act, ch. 753, , enacted August 2, 1946) was the most comprehensive reorganization of the United States Congress in history to that date. Background The n ...

retained the Committee on Civil Service and established the committee's jurisdiction over all the aspects of civil service, the

Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...

and the government's gathering of statistics, and the National Archives. The act also transferred to the committee jurisdiction over the

postal service The mail or post is a system for physically transporting postcards, letters, and parcels. A postal service can be private or public, though many governments place restrictions on private systems. Since the mid-19th century, national postal syst ...

. On April 17, 1947, as specified by {{USBill, 80, S., 99 of the

80th United States Congress The 80th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1947, ...

, the committee's name was changed from the Committee on Civil Service to the United States Senate Committee on Post Office and Civil Service. The committee ceased to exist in February 1977, under S. Res. 4 of the

95th Congress The 95th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1977, ...

when its functions were transferred to the

Committee on Governmental Affairs 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 s ...

. In there were

select or special committee A select or special committee of the United States Congress is a congressional committee appointed to perform a special function that is beyond the authority or capacity of a standing committee. A select committee is usually created by a resolution ...

s pertaining to the Civil Service: * United States Senate Select Committee to Investigate the Operation of the Civil Service, 1888-1889 (

50th Congress The 50th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1887, ...

) *

United States Senate Select Committee to Examine the Several Branches in the Civil Service United States Senate Committee on Civil Service is a defunct committee of the United States Senate. The first standing Senate committee with jurisdiction over the civil service was the United States Senate Committee on Civil Service and Retrench ...

, 1875-1921 ( 43rd- 67th Congresses) * United States Special Committee to Investigate the Administration of the Civil Service System, 1938-1941 ( 75th- 76th Congresses)

Chairmen of the Committee on Civil Service and Retrenchment, 1873-1921

George Wright George Wright may refer to: Politics, law and government * George Wright (MP) (died 1557), MP for Bedford and Wallingford * George Wright (governor) (1779–1842), Canadian politician, lieutenant governor of Prince Edward Island * George Wright ...

(R-IA) 1873-1875 *

Powell Clayton Powell Foulk Clayton (August 7, 1833August 25, 1914) was an American politician, diplomat, and businessman who served as the 9th governor of Arkansas from 1868 to 1871, as a Republican member of the U.S. Senate for Arkansas from 1871 to 1877 an ...

(R-AR) 1875-1877 *

James G. Blaine James Gillespie Blaine (January 31, 1830January 27, 1893) was an American statesman and Republican politician who represented Maine in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1863 to 1876, serving as Speaker of the U.S. House of Representative ...

(R-ME) 1877 *

Henry Teller Henry Moore Teller (May 23, 1830February 23, 1914) was an American politician from Colorado, serving as a US senator between 1876–1882 and 1885–1909, also serving as Secretary of the Interior between 1882 and 1885. He strongly opposed the Da ...

(R-CO) 1877-1879 *

M. C. Butler Matthew Calbraith Butler (March 8, 1836April 14, 1909) was a Confederate soldier, an American military commander and attorney and politician from South Carolina. He served as a major general in the Confederate States Army during the American Ci ...

(D-SC) 1879-1881 * Joseph Hawley (R-CT) 1881-1887 *

Jonathan Chace Jonathan Chace (July 22, 1829June 30, 1917) was a United States representative and Senator from Rhode Island. Biography Born at Fall River, Massachusetts, the son of Harvey Chace and the grandson of Oliver Chace. In 1854, he married Jane C. Moo ...

(R-RI) 1887-1889 *

Edward O. Wolcott Edward Oliver Wolcott (March 26, 1848 – March 1, 1905) was an American politician during the 1890s, who served for 12 years as a Senator from the state of Colorado. Early life Wolcott was born on March 26, 1848 in Longmeadow, Massachusetts. H ...

(R-CO) 1889-1893 *

Wilkinson Call Wilkinson Call (January 9, 1834August 24, 1910) was an American lawyer and politician who represented Florida in the United States Senate from 1879 to 1897. Biography Wilkinson Call, nephew of Territorial Governor of Florida Richard K. Call a ...

(D-FL) 1893-1894 *

Thomas Jarvis Thomas Jarvis (1623–1694) was the Deputy Governor of the Carolina Province from 1691 to 1694. Biography Thomas Jarvis was born in Northampton, Virginia in 1623 to Thomas Jarvis and Elizabeth Bacon. He started his political career in 1672 ...

(D-NC) 1894-1895 * Jeter C. Pritchard (R-NC) 1895-1899 *

Lucien Baker Lucien Baker (June 8, 1846June 21, 1907) was a United States senator from Kansas. Baker was born near Cleveland, Ohio and moved with his parents to Morenci, Michigan. There he attended the public schools and graduated from Adrian College A ...

(R-KS) 1899-1901 *

George C. Perkins George Clement Perkins (August 23, 1839February 26, 1923) was an American businessman and politician. A member of the Republican Party, Perkins served as the 14th Governor of California from 1880 to 1883, and as United States Senator from Calif ...

(R-CA) 1901-1909 * Albert Cummins (R-IA) 1909-1913 *

Atlee Pomerene Atlee Pomerene (December 6, 1863November 12, 1937) was an American Democratic Party politician from Ohio. He represented Ohio in the United States Senate from 1911 until 1923. Biography Pomerene was born on December 6, 1863, in Berlin, Holmes C ...

(D-OH) 1913-1917 * Kenneth McKellar (D-TN) 1917-1919 *

Thomas Sterling Thomas Sterling (February 21, 1851August 26, 1930) was an American lawyer, politician, and academic who served as a member of the United States Senate and the first dean of the University of South Dakota College of Law. A Republican, he serv ...

(R-SD) 1919-1921

Chairmen of the Committee on Civil Service, 1921-1947

(R-SD) 1921-1923 *

Robert Nelson Stanfield Robert Nelson Stanfield Jr (July 9, 1877April 13, 1945) was an American Republican politician and rancher from the state of Oregon who served in the Oregon House of Representatives (1912–18) including as Speaker (1917–18) and was later ele ...

(R-OR) 1923-1925 *

James Couzens James J. Couzens (August 26, 1872October 22, 1936) was an American businessman, politician and philanthropist. He served as mayor of Detroit (1919–1922) and U.S. Senator from Michigan (1922–1936). Prior to entering politics he served as vice ...

(R-MI) 1925-1926 *

Porter H. Dale Porter Hinman Dale (March 1, 1867October 6, 1933) was a member of both the United States House of Representatives and later the United States Senate from Vermont. Early life and career The son of Lieutenant Governor George N. Dale and Helen (Hi ...

(R-VT) 1926-1933 *

William J. Bulow William John Bulow (January 13, 1869February 26, 1960) was an American politician and lawyer. He was the first Democratic Governor of South Dakota, serving from 1927 to 1931. He received the highest number of votes of any Democratic candidate fo ...

(D-SD) 1933-1943 * Kenneth McKellar (D-TN) 1943-1944 *

Sheridan Downey Sheridan Downey (March 11, 1884 – October 25, 1961) was an American lawyer and a Democratic U.S. Senator from California from 1939 to 1950. Early life He was born in Laramie, the seat of Albany County in western Wyoming, the son of the ...

(D-CA) 1944-1947

Sources

Chapter 15. Records of the Committee on Post Office and Civil Service and Related Committees, 1816-1968
Guide to the Records of the U.S. Senate at the National Archives (Record Group 46)

Civil Service The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

1873 establishments in Washington, D.C. 1977 disestablishments in Washington, D.C.