Key Facts
Key Information
About
The U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs (HSGAC) is a standing committee of the United States Senate responsible for overseeing federal government operations, homeland security policies, and related matters. It conducts investigations, holds hearings, and reviews legislation on issues including cybersecurity, terrorism threats, government efficiency, accountability, intergovernmental relations, and other federal activities. The committee's origins trace back to the Committee on Expenditures in the Executive Departments (established 1921), which evolved into the Committee on Government Operations in 1952 and then the Committee on Governmental Affairs in 1978. Following the September 11, 2001 attacks, it was reorganized and renamed the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs in 2005 to address emerging national security concerns. It plays a key role in bipartisan investigations, such as those into election security, pandemic response, waste in government spending, and other homeland security matters.