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Four Races to Watch in House GOP Ranks

By: Robert Bluey (Diary)  |  December 10th, 2008 at 09:30 AM  | 

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UPDATE: The results are in!

The House Republican Steering Committee gathers today on Capitol Hill to interview a slate of candidates for ranking member on several important committees. These members will shape the future of the party and the direction it’s headed in the 111th Congress. Although few people outside the beltway will be watching, there are four important races to follow:

1) Scandal-plagued Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) is hoping to keep his spot as ranking member of the House Natural Resources Committee. Rewarding bad behavior would foil the GOP’s attempt to bury old scandals. A source on Capitol Hill told me yesterday that Republican Leader John Boehner informed Young that he would not support his candidacy. Without Boehner’s backing, it’s unlikely the Steering Committee would support Young either.

2) The contest to see who will sit opposite corrupt Ways and Means Chairman Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.) remains too close to call. Reform-minded Rep. Wally Herger (R-Calif.) is facing Rep. Dave Camp (R-Mich.) to be ranking member. Camp was supposed to be a shoo-in for the job, but his support for a Big Three bailout and his ties to K Street have hurt his chances. Herger, meanwhile, has promised to fight for conservative principles on free trade agreements, taxes and entitlements. Herger told the FlashReport’s Jon Fleischman that he’s ready for the job to take on Rangel.

3) Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.) didn’t inspire much confidence during the debate over the $700 billion Wall Street bailout. In fact, Bachus was ousted as the lead negotiator by then-Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) amid concerns from the GOP. Now Bachus is facing a possible a “no confidence” vote from the Steering Committee. Politico reported yesterday that Reps. David Dreier (Calif.) and Steven LaTourette (Ohio) are possible successors should Bachus fail to secure the committee’s support.

4) Conservatives should cheer Rep. Darrell Issa’s (R-Calif.) likely appointment as ranking member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. With the retirement of moderate Rep. Tom Davis (R-VA), Issa has secured the backing of fellow committee members Reps. Dan Burton (R-Ind.) and John Mica (R-Fla.). The committee, charged with investigating any federal program and any matter with federal policy implications, will be an important battleground for oversight of the Obama administration.

Conservatives should also keep close watch of the Steering Committee’s selections for the Appropriations Committee, likely to take place in the coming weeks. Pork-busting champion Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), who lost a bid earlier this year to Rep. Jo Bonner (R-Ala.), is again vying to serve on the committee. Flake has promised to use the committee for its intended purpose: “[T]hat’s to scrutinize spending rather than be a vehicle for earmarks.” You can sign a petition supporting his appointment at MakeItFlake.com.

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  • Moe Lane

    Because if the Democrats are going to be so kind as to keep a corruption maven as head of Ways & Means, we shouldn’t waste the opportunity.

  • Michael Dugas

    Jeff Flake is the man for this job. He is strong conservative minded man who will run the Appropriations Committee as it should be run. Earmarks, pork or ill gotten booty, whatever you want to call it, has got to stop. Before the government decides to come to us for more tax dollars, more of our money from our wallets, it should show us a concerted effort at tightening its own belt first. Especially in economic times like these where the government bears a lot of the fault.

    • naraht

      He will be ranking member, not chairman. Chairman is a Dem.

      • red_oakster

        he’s just trying to get on the committee. I hope he makes it. It would show that the Republican appropriators had lost a battle against the GOP leadership. That would be historic.

        • Michael Dugas

          in my wording. I want him ON the committee. This is a perfect job
          for him given his feelings on pork. He is a solid conservative voice
          on a committee that desperatly needs one.

  • BrianFH

    http://tinyurl.com/Coronaugeration

    A Swell Foop

  • naraht

    I think someone like Sean Parnell could have kept this seat for a decade or more.

  • mikefisk

    …Young and Stevens both thought they were politically invulnerable. Young, sadly, survived.

    If I were an Alaskan, I would’ve voted for Parnell in the primary and for the Democrat in the general… better to have a Dem we can pick off in two years than a Republican we can’t get rid of even if we tried (and we did).

  • naraht

    It isn’t like Alaska’s seats are like the NC Senate seat coming up in 2010 (no one has been re-elected in it since the 1970s.) The Dem might have been able to keep it.

    Anyone who thinks that Alaska politics is normal should look at the Alaska State Senate. There are 11 Republicans and 9 Democrats. The Republicans split on who their leader should be and the 5 on the losing side went to the Democrats who said sure, that person can be leader of the Senate, we’ll go into coalition with you. And later one of the other size Republicans went over. So right now it is the Majority coaliton is comprised of 9 Dems and 6 Republicans and the Minority is 5 Republicans. And at 15 in the Majority, most of the committees end up with 4 from the coalition including a Dem chair and one from the Minority.

    Wierd.