By the highest order on March 31, 1810, the chairmen of the departments of the State Council were introduced to the Committee of Ministers on all important occasions.

The Chief Procurator of the Holy Synod was a member of the Committee from December 6, 1904, and before that (from 1835) he was called to meetings only when discussing religious matters.

Since 1812, outsiders also became members of the Committee of Ministers (for the first time, Vice Admiral Alexander Shishkov).

The competence of the Committee of Ministers had little in common with the widespread modern concept of the cabinet and its range of functions.

Its competence has developed historically and consisted of extremely diverse groups of questions, most of which were petty and unimportant.

A detailed list of the terms of reference of the Committee has continuously changed, with the total number gradually increasing.

Since 1891, the Committee has considered these cases in joint meetings with the Department of Economy of the State Council.

The competence of the Committee of Ministers included consideration of all charters deviating from the requirements of the law, and since the outdated law allowed only registered shares, and almost all founders wanted to issue bearer shares, the Committee considered almost all charters of newly established companies by the end of the 19th century.

Since 1882, the Committee has moved away from the consideration of this group of questions that have come under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Synod.

However, even in this area, the competence was poorly outlined by law – in 1894 the Minister of Internal Affairs, Ivan Durnovo, passed through the Committee the Regulations on Stunde, thereby avoiding consideration of the issue in the liberal-minded State Council.

The scandal with the abuses of the Minister of Communications Apollo Krivoshein (1894), which led to his dismissal, revealed by the State Control, can be considered as an exception.

Its conclusion, adopted unanimously or by a majority of votes, was entered in a journal, which was submitted to the emperor for approval.

According to the established tradition, the chairmanship of the Committee was the last in the public service honorary position, to which dignitaries were appointed, who had become too old to fulfill the many troublesome duties of the minister.