United States Senate Select Committee on Ethics

The U.S. Senate Select Committee on Ethics is a select committee of the United States Senate charged with dealing with matters related to senatorial ethics. It is also commonly referred to as the Senate Ethics Committee. Senate rules require the Ethics Committee to be evenly divided between the Democrats and the Republicans, no matter who controls the Senate. However, the chairman always comes from the majority party. The leading committee member of the minority party is referred to as the Vice Chairman rather than the more common Ranking Member.

Select committee
Active United States Senate 119th Congress
History
Formed	February 2, 1977
Succeeded	Select Committee on Standards and Conduct
Leadership
Chair	James Lankford (R) Since January 3, 2025 (2025-01-03)
Vice chair	Chris Coons (D) Since January 3, 2025 (2025-01-03)
Structure
Seats	6 members
Political parties	Majority (3)   Republican (3) Minority (3)   Democratic (3)
Jurisdiction
Policy areas	Ethics
House counterpart	United States House Committee on Ethics
Meeting place
220 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, D.C.
Website
ethics.senate.gov
Rules
Ethics Committee Rules

History

The Senate Select Committee on Standards and Conduct was first convened in the 89th Congress (1965–66) and later replaced by the Senate Select Committee on Ethics in the 95th Congress (1977–78).

Membership

Pursuant to Senate Rule 25, the committee is limited to six members, and is equally divided between Democrats and Republicans. This effectively means that either party can veto any action taken by the committee.^[1]

Members, 119th Congress

Main article: 119th United States Congress

Majority[2]	Minority[3]
James Lankford, Oklahoma, Chair Jim Risch, Idaho Deb Fischer, Nebraska	Chris Coons, Delaware, Vice Chair Brian Schatz, Hawaii Jeanne Shaheen, New Hampshire

Chairs

List of chairs of the Senate Select Committee on Ethics

Chair	Party	State	Term
John C. Stennis	D	Mississippi	1965–1975
Howard Cannon	D	Nevada	1975–1977
Adlai Stevenson III	D	Illinois	1977–1980
Howell Heflin	D	Alabama	1980–1981
Malcolm Wallop	R	Wyoming	1981–1983
Ted Stevens	R	Alaska	1983–1985
Warren Rudman	R	New Hampshire	1985–1987
Howell Heflin	D	Alabama	1987–1992
Terry Sanford	D	North Carolina	1992–1993
Richard Bryan	D	Nevada	1993–1995
Mitch McConnell	R	Kentucky	1995–1997
Bob Smith	R	New Hampshire	1997–1999
Pat Roberts	R	Kansas	1999–2001 (ended January 3)
Vacant	—	—	2001 (January 3–20)
Pat Roberts	R	Kansas	2001 (January 20 – June 6)
Harry Reid	D	Nevada	2001–2003 (started June 6, 2001)
George Voinovich	R	Ohio	2003–2007
Barbara Boxer	D	California	2007–2015
Johnny Isakson	R	Georgia	2015–2019
James Lankford	R	Oklahoma	2019–2021
Chris Coons	D	Delaware	2021–2025
James Lankford	R	Oklahoma	2025–present

Historical committee rosters

110th Congress

Majority	Minority
Barbara Boxer, California, Chairwoman Mark Pryor, Arkansas Ken Salazar, Colorado	John Cornyn, Texas, Vice Chairman Pat Roberts, Kansas Johnny Isakson, Georgia

111th Congress

Majority	Minority
Barbara Boxer, California, Chairwoman Mark Pryor, Arkansas Sherrod Brown, Ohio	Johnny Isakson, Georgia, Vice Chairman Pat Roberts, Kansas Jim Risch, Idaho

112th Congress

Majority	Minority
Barbara Boxer, California, Chair Mark Pryor, Arkansas Sherrod Brown, Ohio	Johnny Isakson, Georgia, Vice Chair Pat Roberts, Kansas Jim Risch, Idaho

Source: 2011 Congressional Record, Vol. 157, Page S557

113th Congress

Majority	Minority
Barbara Boxer, California, Chair Mark Pryor, Arkansas Sherrod Brown, Ohio	Johnny Isakson, Georgia, Vice Chair Pat Roberts, Kansas Jim Risch, Idaho

Source: 2011 Congressional Record, Vol. 157, Page S557

114th Congress

Majority	Minority
Johnny Isakson, Georgia, Chair Pat Roberts, Kansas Jim Risch, Idaho	Barbara Boxer, California, Vice Chair Chris Coons, Delaware Brian Schatz, Hawaii

Source: 2013 Congressional Record, Vol. 159, Page S296

115th Congress

Members of the Senate Select Committee on Ethics, 115th Congress^[4]

Majority	Minority
Johnny Isakson, Georgia, Chair Pat Roberts, Kansas Jim Risch, Idaho	Chris Coons, Delaware, Vice Chair Brian Schatz, Hawaii Jeanne Shaheen, New Hampshire

116th Congress

Majority	Minority
James Lankford, Oklahoma, Chair Johnny Isakson, Georgia, Chair (served until December 19, 2019) Pat Roberts, Kansas Jim Risch, Idaho	Chris Coons, Delaware, Vice Chair Brian Schatz, Hawaii Jeanne Shaheen, New Hampshire

117th Congress

Majority	Minority
Chris Coons, Delaware, Chair Brian Schatz, Hawaii Jeanne Shaheen, New Hampshire	James Lankford, Oklahoma, Vice Chair Jim Risch, Idaho Deb Fischer, Nebraska

See also

• List of current United States Senate committees
• United States House Committee on Ethics