The committee was in effect for only one year, 1784, and never achieved a quorum.
History
In the draft of the Articles of Confederation by John Dickinson and the draft committee, this committee was called the Council of State, vested with executive and staff control for commerce, trade, education and issues as delegated by Congress. A minimum of nine of the thirteen states would have had to vote in favor of delegating any new powers to the council, a model after the various administrative committees set up during the American Revolutionary War. Instead, the Second Continental Congress changed it to Committee of the States, with limited management powers only when Congress was not in session.[2]
The committee was set up in 1784 on the proposal of Thomas Jefferson, then a congressman from Virginia. The committee "quarrelled very soon, split into two parties, [and] abandoned their post."[3] This was the only time that the committee was formed, and never had a quorum to carry out its administrative tasks.[2]
Powers
The congressional powers that did not require nine votes were:
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