United States Senate Committee on Armed Services

Chairman Carl Levin (D-MI) and former Chairman John Warner (R-VA) listen to Admiral Mike Mullen's confirmation hearing before the Armed Services Committee to become Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in July 2007. The Armed Services Committee is the prime scene of discussion regarding U.S. military in the Senate.

In June 2009, Armed Services Committee senators Joe Lieberman, Carl Levin (chair), and John McCain, listen to Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus deliver his opening remarks for the fiscal year 2010 budget request in June 2009.

Hearing regarding "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates greets Ranking member, John McCain. December 2, 2010.

Hearing on sexual assault in the military, June 4, 2013

The Committee on Armed Services (sometimes abbreviated SASC for Senate Armed Services Committee on its Web site) is a committee of the United States Senate empowered with legislative oversight of the nation's military, including the Department of Defense, military research and development, nuclear energy (as pertaining to national security), benefits for members of the military, the Selective Service System and other matters related to defense policy. The Armed Services Committee was created as a result of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 following U.S. victory in the Second World War. It merged the responsibilities of the Committee on Naval Affairs (established in 1816) and the Committee on Military Affairs (also established in 1816).

Considered one of the most powerful Senate committees, its broad mandate allowed it to report some of the most extensive and revolutionary legislation during the Cold War years, including the National Security Act of 1947. The committee tends to take a more bipartisan approach than other committees, as many of its members formerly served in the military or have major defense interests located in the states they come from.^[1]

Jurisdiction[edit]

According to the Standing Rules of the United States Senate, all proposed legislation, messages, petitions, memorials, and other matters relating to the following subjects are referred to the Armed Services Committee:^[2]

Aeronautical and space activities pertaining to or primarily associated with the development of weapons systems or military operations.
Common defense.
Department of Defense, the Department of the Army, the Department of the Navy, and the Department of the Air Force, generally.
Maintenance and operation of the Panama Canal, including administration, sanitation, and government of the Canal Zone.
Military research and development.
National security aspects of nuclear energy.
Naval petroleum reserves, except those in Alaska.
Pay, promotion, retirement, and other benefits and privileges of members of the Armed Forces, including overseas education of civilian and military dependents.
Selective service system.
Strategic and critical materials necessary for the common defense.

Members, 115th Congress[edit]

Majority	Minority
John McCain, Arizona, Chairman Jim Inhofe, Oklahoma Roger Wicker, Mississippi Deb Fischer, Nebraska Tom Cotton, Arkansas Mike Rounds, South Dakota Joni Ernst, Iowa Thom Tillis, North Carolina Dan Sullivan, Alaska David Perdue, Georgia Ted Cruz, Texas Lindsey Graham, South Carolina Ben Sasse, Nebraska Luther Strange, Alabama	Jack Reed, Rhode Island, Ranking Member Bill Nelson, Florida Claire McCaskill, Missouri Jeanne Shaheen, New Hampshire Kirsten Gillibrand, New York Richard Blumenthal, Connecticut Joe Donnelly, Indiana Mazie Hirono, Hawaii Tim Kaine, Virginia Angus King, Maine^[3] Martin Heinrich, New Mexico Elizabeth Warren, Massachusetts Gary Peters, Michigan

Source: ^[4]

Subcommittees[edit]

Subcommittee Name
Airland	Tom Cotton (R-AR)	Angus King (I-ME)
Cybersecurity	Mike Rounds (R-SD)	Bill Nelson (D-FL)
Emerging Threats and Capabilities	Joni Ernst (R-IA)	Martin Heinrich (D-NM)
Personnel	Thom Tillis (R-NC)	Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY)
Readiness and Management Support	Jim Inhofe (R-OK)	Tim Kaine (D-VA)
Seapower	Roger Wicker (R-MS)	Mazie Hirono (D-HI)
Strategic Forces	Deb Fischer (R-NE)	Joe Donnelly (D-IN)

Chairmen[edit]

Committee on Military Affairs, 1816–1947[edit]

	Party	State	Years
John Williams	DR	TN	1816–1817
George M. Troup	DR	GA	1817–1818
John Williams	DR	TN	1818–1823
Andrew Jackson	DR	TN	1823–1825
William Henry Harrison	DR	OH	1825–1828
Thomas Hart Benton	D	MO	1828–1841
William Preston	W	SC	1841–1842
John J. Crittenden	W	KY	1842–1845
Thomas Hart Benton	D	MO	1845–1847
Lewis Cass	D	MI	1847–1848
Thomas Hart Benton	D	MO	1848–1849
Jefferson Davis	D	MS	1849–1851
James Shields	D	IL	1851–1855
John Weller	D	CA	1855–1857
Jefferson Davis	D	MS	1857–1861
Robert Ward Johnson	D	AR	1861
Henry Wilson	R	MA	1861–1872
John A. Logan	R	IL	1872–1877
George E. Spencer	R	AL	1877–1879
Theodore Randolph	D	NJ	1879–1881
John A. Logan	R	IL	1881–1886
William Joyce Sewell	R	NJ	1886–1887
Joseph R. Hawley	R	CT	1887–1893
Edward Walthall	D	MS	1893–1895
Joseph R. Hawley	R	CT	1895–1905
Redfield Proctor	R	VT	1905
Francis E. Warren	R	WY	1905–1911
Henry A. du Pont	R	DE	1911–1913
Joseph F. Johnston	D	AL	1913
George E. Chamberlain	D	OR	1913–1919
James W. Wadsworth, Jr.	R	NY	1919–1927
David A. Reed	R	PA	1927–1933
Morris Sheppard	D	TX	1933–1941
Robert R. Reynolds	D	NC	1941–1945
Elbert Thomas	D	UT	1945–1947

Committee on Naval Affairs, 1816–1947[edit]

	Party	State	Years
Charles Tait	DR	GA	1816–1818
Nathan Sanford	DR	NY	1818–1819
James Pleasants	DR	VA	1819–1823
James Lloyd	F	MA	1823–1825
Robert Y. Hayne	D	SC	1825–1832
George M. Dallas	D	PA	1832–1833
Samuel Southard	W	NJ	1833–1836
William C. Rives	D	VA	1836–1839
Reuel Williams	D	ME	1839–1841
Willie P. Mangum	W	NC	1841–1842
Richard H. Bayard	W	DE	1842–1845
John Fairfield	D	ME	1845–1847
David Levy Yulee	D	FL	1847–1851
William M. Gwin	D	CA	1851–1855
Stephen Mallory	D	FL	1855–1861
John P. Hale	R	NH	1861–1864
James Grimes	R	IA	1864–1870
Aaron Cragin	R	NH	1870–1877
Aaron A. Sargent	R	CA	1877–1879
John R. McPherson	D	NJ	1879–1881
James Donald Cameron	R	PA	1881–1893
John R. McPherson	D	NJ	1893–1895
James Donald Cameron	R	PA	1895–1897
Eugene Hale	R	ME	1897–1909
George C. Perkins	R	CA	1909–1913
Benjamin Tillman	D	SC	1913–1918
Claude A. Swanson	D	VA	1918–1919
Carroll S. Page	R	VT	1919–1923
Frederick Hale	R	ME	1923–1933
Park Trammell	D	FL	1933–1936
David I. Walsh	D	MA	1936–1947

Committee on Armed Services, 1947–present[edit]

	Party	State	Years
Chan Gurney	Republican	South Dakota	1947–1949
Millard E. Tydings	Democratic	Maryland	1949–1951
Richard B. Russell	Democratic	Georgia	1951–1953
Leverett Saltonstall	Republican	Massachusetts	1953–1955
Richard B. Russell	Democratic	Georgia	1955–1969
John C. Stennis	Democratic	Mississippi	1969–1981
John Tower	Republican	Texas	1981–1985
Barry Goldwater	Republican	Arizona	1985–1987
Sam Nunn	Democratic	Georgia	1987–1995
Strom Thurmond	Republican	South Carolina	1995–1999
John Warner	Republican	Virginia	1999–2001
Carl Levin	Democratic	Michigan	2001
John Warner	Republican	Virginia	2001
Carl Levin	Democratic	Michigan	2001–2003
John Warner	Republican	Virginia	2003–2007
Carl Levin	Democratic	Michigan	2007–2015
John McCain	Republican	Arizona	2015-present

Historical committee rosters[edit]

Footnotes[edit]

^ Steinhauer, Jennifer. "With Chairmanship, McCain Seizes Chance to Reshape Pentagon Agenda", The New York Times (June 9, 2015). Retrieved June 10, 2015.
^ Rule XXV: Committees, Standing Rules of the United States Senate.
^ Angus King is an independent, but caucuses with the Democrats.
^ "U.S. Senate: Committee on Armed Services". www.senate.gov. Retrieved 2017-01-07.

External links[edit]

United States Senate Armed Services Committee Website (Archive)
Senate Armed Services Committee. Legislation activity and reports, Congress.gov.
Department of Defense
Armed Forces Retirement Home
Selected Service System
Senate Armed Services Committee Report on Torture released November 20, 2008.

Historic archives at Internet Archive:

[1] Steinhauer, Jennifer. "With Chairmanship, McCain Seizes Chance to Reshape Pentagon Agenda", The New York Times (June 9, 2015). Retrieved June 10, 2015.

[2] Rule XXV: Committees, Standing Rules of the United States Senate.

[autogenerated1-3] Angus King is an independent, but caucuses with the Democrats.

[4] "U.S. Senate: Committee on Armed Services". www.senate.gov. Retrieved 2017-01-07.

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