House GOP ‘musical chairs’ underway on powerful spending committee

There is upheaval among Republican spending cardinals on the powerful House Appropriations Committee.

Republicans have appointed Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), a prominent negotiator, to craft 12 government funding bills a year following the resignation of retiring Rep. Kay Granger (R-Texas). He announced that he has been elected as the new chairman of the committee with the mandate. He was scheduled to resign from his position last month.

But Mr. Cole will probably be replaced in the coming days by a vacancy in his previous post as chairman of the appropriations subcommittee, which oversees annual funding for housing and transportation programs. He predicted that an investigation would proceed.

“Obviously, there’s always a little bit of musical chairs between the Cardinals,” he said. “I’m willing to give up on one thing, and we need to talk about it.” [to] My colleagues, and based on seniority, we’ll see who wants to go there. ”

on thursday, Cole announced Congressman Steve Womack (R-Ark.) will become chairman of the former subcommittee after previously leading the Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government (FSGG).

Rep. David Valadao (R-Calif.) will become chairman of a legislative subcommittee previously led by Rep. Mark Amodei (R-Nev.).

Rep. Dave Joyce (R-Ohio) also moved from the subcommittee that creates annual funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to become chairman of the FSGG subcommittee that oversees funding for the Internal Revenue Service. do.

More changes are expected, as the Cardinals told The Hill earlier Thursday that discussions are still ongoing to decide who will head the DHS appropriations subcommittee. Many say the subcommittee is tasked with crafting one of the most difficult annual funding bills, especially given the growing partisan divide at the U.S.-Mexico border.

“I am proud to have this highly experienced and talented group leading our subcommittee. Each chair has the ability to responsibly meet our fiscal obligations and prioritize the American people. ,” Cole said in a statement.

“Spending season is here and we will work tirelessly to deliver on our commitments,” he added.