House GOP Chooses Panel Chairmen

House Republican leaders on Tuesday announced their roster of committee chairmen, all of whom have vowed to conduct vigorous oversight of the Obama administration.

In contested races, GOP lawmakers gave the gavels of three major committees to a Michigan lawmaker who successfully convinced colleagues of his conservative credentials, a reformed earmarker from Kentucky and an Alabama legislator who has repeatedly shown his skills as a political survivor.

The House Republican Steering Committee, composed of leadership lawmakers and some rank-and-file members, officially tapped all chairmen who will serve in the 111th Congress. But the most drama centered on the contested races for Appropriations, Energy and Commerce, and Financial Services.

Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) won a bruising race for the Energy and Commerce Committee, but it wasn’t easy. Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas), who attracted criticism from the White House and fellow Republicans earlier this year for his infamous apology to BP amid the massive oil spill off the Gulf Coast, racked up endorsements from conservative members and groups.

Barton sought a waiver to the GOP’s rule that prohibits members from remaining in a top committee perch for more than six years, but it was denied.
Some in the GOP argued that Upton was not conservative enough to run a committee that has jurisdiction over energy, healthcare and telecommunications, among many other issues.

Upton, however, persuaded Republicans that he would be loyal to the GOP leadership and would stand up to the Obama White House.

Other members who were in the Energy and Commerce race included Reps. John Shimkus (R-Ill.) and Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.).

Rep. Hal Rogers (R-Ky.) beat out Appropriations Committee ranking member Jerry Lewis (R-Calif.) and Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.) to nab the chairmanship of the spending panel. Like Barton, Lewis’s requested waiver to the GOP’s six-year rule was rejected.                                  

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