Title 26 — Internal Revenue CodeRelease 119-73not60

§8002 Membership

Title 26 › Subtitle Subtitle G— The Joint Committee on Taxation › Chapter 91— ORGANIZATION AND MEMBERSHIP OF THE JOINT COMMITTEE › § 8002

Last updated Apr 5, 2026|Official source

Summary

Creates a 10-member joint committee: five senators from the Senate Finance Committee (three from the majority party and two from the minority) and five representatives from the House Ways and Means Committee (three majority, two minority). Each member is picked by their own committee. Members must stop serving if they are no longer on the committee that chose them, except Ways and Means members who are reelected to the House may keep serving after that Congress ends. If a seat opens, the remaining members can keep working. Vacancies are filled the same way as the original choice, but if the vacancy happens during a break longer than 2 weeks, the committee’s Joint Committee members may name a temporary replacement. After a Congress ends, continuing Ways and Means Joint Committee members may name a temporary replacement who was on the committee before the end and was reelected. Members do not get extra pay beyond their congressional salary, but they are repaid for travel, meals, and other necessary expenses, except for meetings in Washington, D.C. while Congress is in session.

Full Legal Text

Title 26, §8002

Internal Revenue Code — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)The Joint Committee shall be composed of 10 members as follows:

(1)Five members who are members of the Committee on Finance of the Senate, three from the majority and two from the minority party, to be chosen by such Committee; and

(2)Five members who are members of the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives, three from the majority and two from the minority party, to be chosen by such Committee.

(b)(1)No person shall continue to serve as a member of the Joint Committee after he has ceased to be a member of the Committee by which he was chosen, except that—

(2)The members chosen by the Committee on Ways and Means who have been reelected to the House of Representatives may continue to serve as members of the Joint Committee notwithstanding the expiration of the Congress.

(c)A vacancy in the Joint Committee—

(1)Shall not affect the power of the remaining members to execute the functions of the Joint Committee; and

(2)Shall be filled in the same manner as the original selection, except that—

(A)In case of a vacancy during an adjournment or recess of Congress for a period of more than 2 weeks, the members of the Joint Committee who are members of the Committee entitled to fill such vacancy may designate a member of such Committee to serve until his successor is chosen by such Committee; and

(B)In the case of a vacancy after the expiration of a Congress which would be filled by the Committee on Ways and Means, the members of such Committee who are continuing to serve as members of the Joint Committee may designate a person who, immediately prior to such expiration, was a member of such Committee and who is re-elected to the House of Representatives, to serve until his successor is chosen by such Committee.

(d)The members shall serve without compensation in addition to that received for their services as members of Congress; but they shall be reimbursed for travel, subsistence, and other necessary expenses incurred by them in the performance of the duties vested in the Joint Committee, other than expenses in connection with meetings of the Joint Committee held in the District of Columbia during such times as the Congress is in session.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

26 U.S.C. § 8002

Title 26 — Internal Revenue Code

Last Updated

Apr 5, 2026

Release point: 119-73not60