The Committee on Armed Services has jurisdiction over all aspects of national defense and homeland security; the Department of Defense, the Department of the Army, the Department of the Navy, and the Department of the Air Force; military research and development; national security aspects of nuclear energy; 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; aeronautical and space activities peculiar to or primarily associated with the development of weapons systems or military operations as well as strategic and critical materials necessary for the common defense.
The Senate Committee on the Budget is responsible for drafting Congress' annual budget plan and monitoring action on the budget for the Federal Government. In addition, the Budget Committee has jurisdiction over the operation of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). The budget resolution prepared by the Budget Committee sets out a broad blueprint for the government as a whole, whereas the Finance Committee and the Appropriations Committee prepare the legislation that actually enacts specific tax and spending policies.
The Committee on the Judiciary is responsible for overseeing the nomination process of all federal judges for circuit and district courts as well as justices nominated to the Supreme Court. Other key areas of responsibility of the committee are immigration and naturalization, state and territorial boundary lines and civil liberties. The Committee also oversees all federal courts, including civil and criminal courts. The Judiciary Committee has one of the broadest jurisdictions in the Senate, ranging from criminal justice to antitrust and intellectual property law.
