Presidential and National Commissions

When a disaster, scandal, or hard policy problem demands a response beyond ordinary politics, presidents and Congress often create a temporary commission of prominent citizens and experts to investigate and recommend. Presidents usually create them by executive order, while Congress creates national commissions by law, sometimes with power to subpoena witnesses. Early examples include the Brownlow Committee, whose 1937 report led to the creation of the Executive Office of the President, and the Hoover Commissions on government reorganization of 1947 and 1953.

Some commissions have investigated national traumas: the Warren Commission, created on November 29, 1963, to investigate President Kennedy's assassination, the Kerner Commission on the urban riots of 1967, the Rogers Commission on the 1986 Challenger shuttle explosion, and the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, known as the 9/11 Commission, created by Congress on November 27, 2002. Others have tackled policy, such as the 1983 Greenspan Commission that shaped Social Security reforms, the 2010 Simpson-Bowles fiscal commission, and the 2021 commission on the Supreme Court. Commissions typically hold hearings, gather documents, and issue a final report before disbanding.

The 9/11 Commission's July 22, 2004, report became a bestseller, and many of its recommendations, including the creation of a Director of National Intelligence, were enacted. Other reports, such as the Kerner Commission's warning about racial division, drew wide attention but limited action, and the Simpson-Bowles plan failed to win the votes needed for a formal vote in Congress. Commissions remain a common tool, including the Make America Healthy Again Commission created in February 2025. Supporters say they can build bipartisan consensus and bring expertise to divisive questions, while critics say they are often used to delay action or provide political cover.