The Hill committees are the common name for the political party committees that work to elect members of their own party to United States Congress ("Hill" refers to Capitol Hill, where the seat of Congress, the Capitol, is located). The four major committees are part of the Democratic and Republican parties and each work to help members of their party get elected to each chamber (the House of Representatives and the Senate).
The four major committees are the:
Two third parties have Hill committees as well: The Libertarian National Congressional Committee (LNCC) for the Libertarian Party[1] and the Green Senatorial Campaign Committee (GSCC) for the Green Party of the United States.[2]
The goal of these committees is to maximize the number of seats under their party's control in a given chamber and to support incumbent members of their caucuses. To advance those goals, the committees spend the bulk of their resources on the closest, most competitive campaigns that are most likely to flip in party control. Researcher Paul Herrnson called these competitive districts "opportunity races." In addition to opportunity, committees factor campaign and candidate quality, incumbency, and regional goals when weighing spending decisions.[3]
Each committee works to recruit, assist, and support candidates of their own party, for their own chamber, in targeted races around the country. The committees contribute directly to candidates' campaigns, while also providing campaign-related services that require specialized skills or expertise, like research or targeting.[4] Committees additionally make independent expenditures in support of candidates.[5]
Party committees act as hubs of information, sharing information, strategies, and tactics between connected organizations and allies. For example, party committees may share information about candidates in targeted elections in order to encourage members of the existing caucuses and allied organizations to endorse or donate to their campaign.
Hill committee chairs of the major parties are historically incumbents of each body. As of 2023, the chairs of the DCCC and DSCC are appointed by the party leader, while the chairs of the NRCC and NRSC are voted on by their conference.[6] [7] [8] [9] Typically, they are proven fundraisers with national political ambitions.[10] The committees are run on a day-to-day basis by a professional staff with campaign experience.
The Hill committees raise funds at the national level from donors whose focus is on Congress as a whole, rather than individual campaigns. The majority of funds for party committees is raised from individual donors. Raising large contributions from national donors for their respective party committees is a major responsibility of House and Senate leadership.[11] [12] [13] [14] The Hill committees additionally raise money from small donors, usually defined as individuals contributing of less than $200, the point at which the FEC requires a donors full name to be listed on fundraising reports.[15] PACs, representing interest groups, industries, or businesses, also provide a major source of funds for party committees.[16]
Additionally, the Hill committees rely on "dues" paid by existing members of each party's caucuses.[17] Candidates can make unlimited transfers from personal campaign committees to party organizations, as well as a maximum contribution from any leadership PAC account. In the 2006 election cycle, contributions from members of Congress campaign committees and leadership PACs accounted for 8% of receipts collected by Republican party committees and 11% of receipts by Democratic party committees.