section_path: Organization/Committees
section_name: Committees
paragraph_text: Committees
  
  Most of the legislative work in the Bundestag is the product of standing committees, which exist largely unchanged throughout one legislative period. The number of committees approximates the number of federal ministries, and the titles of each are roughly similar (e.g., defense, agriculture, and labor). There are, as of the current nineteenth Bundestag, 24 standing committees. The distribution of committee chairs and the membership of each committee reflect the relative strength of the various Parliamentary groups in the chamber. In the current nineteenth Bundestag, the CDU/CSU chaired ten committees, the SPD five, the AfD and the FDP three each, The Left and the Greens two each. Members of the opposition party can chair a significant number of standing committees (e.g. the Budget Committee of the Bundestag was by tradition chaired by the biggest opposition party, until the 21st Bundestag, when Alternative for Germany was denied this post). These committees have either a small staff or no staff at all.