By 1900 the Committee on Rules of the House of Representatives had become one of the most powerful committees in the Congress. At the start of the 1961 session all major pieces of legislation had to go through the committee before they could get to the House floor for debate. From their position as gatekeepers, members of the, Rules Committee controlled the legislative agenda. Throughout the 1950s the two ranking Democrats on the committee, Rep. Howard W. Smith (Va.) and Rep. William Colmer (Miss.), had worked effectively with conservative Republican committee members to block new social programs and civil rights initiatives. In,1961 House Speaker Sam Rayburn came up with a way to get President John F. Kennedy's legislative agenda around this roadblock. Backed by the administration, he proposed to expand committee membership from twelve to fifteen by adding two Democrats and one Republican...