House Speaker Curbs Committee Chairs' Power to Summon Witnesses
House Speaker Sopon has stripped committee chairs of unilateral summoning power, requiring full committee resolutions for witness subpo
House Speaker Sopon has endorsed a unified operational framework for all 35 standing committees of the House of Representatives, stripping committee chairs of the power to unilaterally summon individuals or demand documents without a committee resolution. The guidelines, agreed upon at an October 21 meeting between the Speaker and all committee chairs, establish four key principles: committees must strictly interpret their mandate within the letter and spirit of the law without encroaching on other committees' turf; disputes involving two or more committees will be referred to the Speaker for arbitration; meeting schedules must be set by committee vote, with chairs only allowed to call special sessions for urgent matters; and agenda-setting authority rests with the full committee, not the chair alone. Any summons of persons or documents now requires a formal committee resolution, and if voluntary cooperation fails, committees must follow the legal procedures under the 2025 Act on Summoning Powers. The Speaker will issue an official circular to all committee chairs formalizing these rules.
