Types of Committee Hearings

Publication Date: March 2001

Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

Author(s):

Research Area: Government

Type:

Abstract:

Congressional committee hearings may be broadly classified into four types: legislative, oversight, investigative, and confirmation. Hearings may be held on Capitol
Hill or elsewhere, perhaps a committee member’s district or state or a site related to the subject of the hearing. (These latter ones are often referred to as field hearings.) All hearings have a similar formal purpose, to gather information for use by the committee in its activities.