A subcommittee is a subordinate committee comprised of members who belong to a larger committee. For example, within the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, there are a number of subcommittees dedicated to specific issues, such as the Subcommittee on Children and Families. Subcommittees are a critical part of committee organization, as they allow committees to focus on several issues without needing to involve all of the members, and they create more flexibility within the committee structure.

There are two main types of subcommittee: standing, and working. A standing subcommittee is one which is always in existence, covering specific issues which pertain to the committee in general. One special type of standing subcommittee, the executive subcommittee, can make executive decisions on behalf of the larger group. A working subcommittee is tasked with dealing with a specific and often temporary issue: for example, a city council might establish a subcommittee to address civilian complaints about the police force.

Members of a subcommittee are usually chosen or elected by other members of the committee, and they are selected on the basis of experience, qualifications, and willingness to serve. The subcommittee usually agrees to meet together at set intervals, taking care not to overlap with regular committee meetings, and the members may be tasked with making periodic reports to the general committee on their progress and concerns. Subcommittee meetings may also be closed to the public for privacy reasons, particularly when open committee meetings cannot be held in closed sessions for legal reasons and committee members want a chance to meet officially without public oversight.

You may not always hear a subcommittee referred to specifically as a subcommittee. Words like “commission” and “working group” are sometimes used instead. In these cases, a subcommittee can be identified by looking at its membership. If the membership of a group is taken from a larger committee, board, or commission and the members have been specifically appointed by the larger organization, they are considered a subcommittee, whether or not they identify themselves as such.

Serving on a subcommittee can require some diplomatic skills. Members of a subcommittee must keep the spirit of the larger group in mind, and since they may end up speaking on behalf of other members of the committee, they have to be careful to ensure that their official statements and positions are worded appropriately. In the case of an executive standing subcommittee, members must also consider issues like budgeting, which can become critical when making executive decisions.