Receives complaints and investigates allegations of improper conduct, violations of law and violations of Senate rules by Senators, officers and employees. It serves as the Senate supervising ethics office for financial disclosure and gift rules.
Senate Select Committee on Ethics has 6 members, made up of 3 Republicans and 3 Democrats. James Lankford chairs it. Senate committee seats are held for the length of a senator term, so membership turns over more slowly than in the House. The membership below is generated from the roster this site maintains against clerk.house.gov and senate.gov.
Jurisdiction source: Senate Select Committee on Ethics
How business reaches this committee
This committee sits outside the standing committees listed in Senate Rule XXV. The Senate set it up separately and renews it each Congress. Its output is oversight, investigation and reports to the full Senate rather than the routine flow of referred bills.
Subcommittees
The committee has no subcommittees. Every hearing, markup and vote happens in full committee, which keeps the whole membership on the same set of questions.
Select and special committees tend to be small. Working in full committee means every member hears the same testimony and votes on the same record, with no intermediate stage between a hearing and a committee decision.
Who serves on it
6 senators sit on the committee: 3 Republicans and 3 Democrats. That gives the majority 3 of the 6 seats. James Lankford is the chairman. Christopher A. Coons is the vice chairman. They come from 6 states.
Following its work
Hearing notices, markup schedules, witness lists and published reports live on the committee’s own site, linked at the top of this page. The full member list below links to each member’s page here, with contact details and the seat they hold. For background on how seats and chairs are handed out, read How congressional committees work. For what happens to a bill after a committee reports it, read How a bill becomes law. To look up who represents a particular place, start at U.S. senators by state.
Members
- James LankfordROklahomaChairman
- Christopher A. CoonsDDelawareVice Chairman
- Brian SchatzDHawaii
- Deb FischerRNebraska
- James E. RischRIdaho
- Jeanne ShaheenDNew Hampshire
6 members. Generated from the roster this site holds, checked against the Clerk of the House and the Senate committee lists on September 26, 2026.