Much of Congress work is done by Congressional committees. The number and scopeof Congressional committees can change, particularly when political control of thechamber changes parties and when the jurisdiction of committees overlaps, as is often thecase. In the Senate, the following committees currently have jurisdiction over issuesrelating to environmental protection or natural resource conservation： the Agriculture,Nutrition, and Forestry Committee; the Appropriation Committee; the Commerce,Science and Transportation Committee; the Energy and Natural Resources Committee~the Environment and Public Works Committee;and,the .Governmental AffairsCommittee. In the House of Representatives, the following committees have jurisdictionover environmental protectionornatural resource conservation：the AgricultureCommittee; the Appropriation Committee; the Commerce Committee; the Governmentreform and Oversight Committee; the Resource Committee; the Transportation andInfrastructure Committee; and the Science Committee.
The federal judiciary is hierarchical. The highest court in the United States, and theonly one required by the Constitution, is the United States Supreme Court. U.S. Const.art. III, sec. 1. The Supreme Courts decision is the final decision in any case. TheSupreme Court has nine member： a Chief Justice and eight Associate Justices. TheSupreme Court has limited original jurisdiction, hearing most of its cases on appeal3. U.S.Const. art. HI, sec. 2, cl. 2. In most cases, the losing party must petition the Courtthrough a writ of certiorari4 to hear the case. The Court votes first on the writ, requiringfour yes votes to hear the case.
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