[Deschler's Precedents, Volume 1, Chapters 1 - 6]
[Chapter 3.  Party Organization]
[C. Party Committees and Informal Groups]
[Â§ 14. Patronage Committee]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


[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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