House GOP to choose chairs for influential committees: Who’s in the running
House Republican leaders will choose new chairs for a number of influential committees this week, people who will have the power to help deliver on President-elect Trump’s priorities in the GOP trifecta over the next two years.
While most of the committee chair positions are uncontested, several panels have leaders who are departing Congress or are term limited according to internal House GOP rules. Unless granted a waiver, House GOP chairs may not serve more than three consecutive terms atop a committee, in a contrast from the House Democratic Caucus, where some senior leaders have led committees for a decade or more.
The departing chairs have sparked competitive races for important panels, like the Energy and Commerce Committee and Financial Services Committee.
The new chairs will be chosen by members of the House GOP Steering Committee, a panel of more than 30 elected Republican leaders and regional representatives that recommends the chairs to the full House GOP conference for formal approval.
The Steering Committee is hearing presentations from the contenders on Monday and Thursday and is expected to make its selections by the end of Thursday. The full GOP conference will likely rubber-stamp the picks the following week.
Here are the competitive House GOP chair races for the 119th Congress.
Energy and Commerce Committee
Outgoing Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rogers (R-Wash.) declined to seek reelection, setting up a race for the influential panel between Rep. Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.) and Rep. Bob Latta (R-Ohio).
The Energy and Commerce panel has jurisdiction over a broad range of policy issues and federal departments, including health care, the Department of Energy, the Food and Drug Administration, and more.
Latta is set to be the most senior Republican on the committee and has experience on all six of its subcommittees, including stints chairing two subcommittees, on communications and technology and on digital commerce and consumer protection. The 33 bills he has signed into law include measures that aim to expand nuclear fuel programs and boost 5G coverage.
Guthrie, meanwhile, has sat on five of the panel’s six subcommittees, and is chair of its health subcommittee. His top priorities for the next Congress include permitting reform for energy........
© The Hill
visit website