Work and Welfare

The Subcommittee on Work and Welfare is a specialized panel within the House Committee on Ways and Means, one of Congress's most powerful committees responsible for tax and social welfare legislation. As a subcommittee, it handles the detailed legislative groundwork on a narrower slice of the full committee's jurisdiction, focusing specifically on public assistance and employment programs. The subcommittee does not report bills directly to the House floor; instead, it prepares legislation for consideration by the full Ways and Means Committee.

The subcommittee's jurisdiction covers a broad range of social safety net programs. It handles temporary assistance for needy families, child care, child and family services, child support enforcement, foster care, adoption services, and supplemental security income. It also oversees the federal-unemployment compensation system, including extended and emergency benefits. This combination of responsibilities makes the subcommittee a key player in debates over how America supports low-income families and workers during economic hardship.

Chairman Darin LaHood (R-IL) leads the subcommittee, with Ranking Member Danny K. Davis (D-IL) representing the Democratic minority. The 13-member panel reflects the full committee's partisan composition. Recent hearings have examined pandemic unemployment fraud recovery, temporary assistance program reform and accountability, foster youth outcomes and technology modernization, child support enforcement modernization, and disability benefits policy. These hearings reflect the subcommittee's focus on program effectiveness, fraud prevention, and modernizing systems to better serve vulnerable populations.