[Deschler's Precedents]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access]
[DOCID:52093c03_txt-15]
[Page 199-200]
CHAPTER 3
Party Organization
C. PARTY COMMITTEES AND INFORMAL GROUPS
Sec. 14. Patronage Committee
Formerly, the patronage of the House was distributed through a
[[Page 200]]
patronage committee nominated by the Committee on Committees and
elected by the majority caucus. Thus, in 1911, a caucus
resolution(12) provided for a committee that would
distribute the appointive positions in the House organization among the
members of ``the various state delegations.'' And in 1918, the
Republicans being in the majority, Republican members received from the
temporary Chairman of their Committee on Committees instructions
relating to the distribution of patronage.(13)
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12. See 8 Cannon's Precedents Sec. 3627.
13. See 8 Cannon's Precedents Sec. 3628.
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At the present time, the distribution of jobs through patronage is
a very informal process. Many jobs on Capitol Hill, including a number
in the offices of the Doorkeeper and the Sergeant at Arms of the House,
are awarded through patronage, but no clear criteria exist by which the
control of patronage is distributed to Members of the House. State
delegations may be assigned quotas of jobs to be awarded under the
patronage system.(14)
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14. See Congressional Quarterly's Guide to the Congress of the United
States, Congressional Quarterly Service (Washington, D.C.,
1971), p. 428. For more detailed discussion of the Patronage
Committee, see Ch. 7, infra.
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