Committee leaders' powers are often under-appreciated beyond Capitol Hill, but they exert great influence over the legislative process. A committee chair’s wide-ranging latitude includes establishing a committee’s legislative agenda and acting as a floor manager for legislation that is debated in both chambers. They also administer committee logistics, hire staff, and allocate resources to committee members.
Caroline O’Day’s path to Congress was based on building a groundswell of support throughout New York State through volunteer and patronage positions. She defeated 10 candidates to win an at-large U.S. House seat in 1934. In her second term, O’Day was named chair of the Committee on Election of the President, Vice President, and Representatives of Congress, a committee that reviewed national election laws and considered proposed changes to the U.S. Constitution involving congressional and presidential elections, and managing the electoral vote counts for presidential and vice presidential candidates. O’Day served on this committee for seven years.
As the second woman appointed to the U.S. Senate and the first to win an election in her own right, Hattie Caraway learned the mores of Congress as the wife and political confidante of Thomas Caraway, who served four terms in the House and two terms in the Senate. Appointed to the Senate upon the death of her husband, Caraway ran and won a special election to the seat against four male opponents. In her first full term, Caraway became the first woman to lead a Senate committee when she was named chair of the Committee on Enrolled Bills, a committee that examined bills approved by both houses of Congress before sending them to the President for his signature. Caraway served on this committee for her entire Senate career until then-Representative J. William Fulbright defeated her in 1944.
The careers of Caroline O’Day, Mary Norton, and Hattie Caraway served as important institutional milestones for Congress. They demonstrated that women Members could represent constituents on their own merits and acquire enough seniority to chair committees. Their success at becoming prominent institutional players enabled future generations of women Members to follow in their footsteps. To date, a total of 32 women (19 in the House and 13 in the Senate) have chaired congressional committees.
Sources: “Caraway, Hattie Wyatt,” “O’Day, Caroline Love Goodwin,” and “Norton, Mary Theresa,” Office of the Historian, U.S. House of Representatives, http://history.house.gov/; Christian Science Monitor, 19 June 1937.
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