The Legislative Effectiveness of Congressional Oversight Reports

ABSTRACT

This article assesses the linkage between the House and Senate oversight committees' reports and subsequent legislative efforts in those policy areas from the 106th to the 116th Congresses (1999–2020). The analysis finds support for the three proffered hypotheses. First, the policy topics covered in the reports spur the referral of bills on those topics to the oversight committees. Second, the oversight reports on topics that the majority staff releases are more reflected in downstream legislative activity than the topics covered in the minority staff reports. Finally, the majority's advantage in pushing legislation related to its oversight reports' topics is greater in the House than it is in the Senate. These initial findings substantiate the importance of gathering and coding congressional oversight reports for not only how Congress conducts oversight, but also how it legislates.