United States Senate Republican Policy Committee

In the United States Senate, the Republican Policy Committee is the policy research arm of the Republican Conference. It was established in 1947 along with its Democratic counterpart, the Senate Democratic Policy Committee.

Its leader, the Policy Committee chairman, is the fourth-ranking Republican in the Senate, behind the Republican Leader, the Republican Whip, and the Republican Conference Chairman.

According to Congressional Quarterly, "the Policy Committee is in effect a legislative think tank. The committee organizes the prominent Tuesday lunches with summaries of major bills, analysis of roll call votes and distribution of issue papers."

List of Chairs

Dates	Name	State	Notes
1947–1952	Robert A. Taft	Ohio
1953	William F. Knowland	California
1954	Homer S. Ferguson	Michigan
1955–1961	Styles Bridges	New Hampshire
1962–1968	Bourke B. Hickenlooper	Iowa
1969–1972	Gordon Allott	Colorado
1973–1985	John Tower	Texas
1985–1990	William L. Armstrong	Colorado
1991–1996	Don Nickles	Oklahoma
1996–2003	Larry Craig	Idaho
2003–2007	Jon Kyl	Arizona
2007–2009	Kay Bailey Hutchison	Texas	First woman to hold position
2009	John Ensign	Nevada	Resigned
2009–2011	John Thune	South Dakota
2012–present	John Barrasso	Wyoming

External links

• Official website