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The Water Cooler Title: Grab For GOP Gavels Gets Ugly House Republicans avoided any serious bloodletting in their leadership races, but the campaigns for two powerful committee chairmanships are getting downright nasty. In scenes reminiscent of the primary fights between established lawmakers and conservative challengers, candidates are running to the right in races for the Appropriations and Energy and Commerce gavels. Outside groups are taking sides, anonymous oppo dumps are being circulated on Capitol Hill attacking members’ voting records, and Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh are taking to the airwaves. The stakes are enormous: The Appropriations Committee is ground zero for efforts to curb earmarks and federal spending, both goals of the tea party movement that helped sweep the GOP into power. The Energy and Commerce panel will be the hub for attempts to repeal the Democrats’ health care reform law and block the Obama administration’s planned climate change regulations. Key conservative groups off the Hill are exerting pressure on House Speaker-in-waiting John Boehner and other GOP leaders not to issue waivers to former committee chairmen Jerry Lewis of California and Joe Barton of Texas when the Steering Committee meets next month. “Term limits exist to prevent individual members from centralizing power and undermining the principles of republican government and the Republican Party,” said Club for Growth President Chris Chocola. “Waiving the limits and breaking their own rules before the new Congress is even sworn in will send a clear and depressing signal that House Republicans still don’t ‘get it.’” Lewis is seeking a waiver to serve another term atop the spending panel but faces stiff competition not only from GOPs leadership — which has sent signals that it is averse to circumventing term limits — but also other lawmakers seeking the gavel. Favorite among those lawmakers is Kentucky Rep. Hal Rogers, a 29-year veteran of Congress. He has reached out to freshmen and incumbents, promising reform and to keep in place the earmark moratorium. Rogers is also making clear that it’s not smart for the conference to reverse its rules on term limits. Georgia Rep. Jack Kingston is also being floated as a contender who favors an earmark ban. Majority Leader-to-be Eric Cantor of Virginia is looking to put conservative reformers on Appropriations — namely, Reps. Jeff Flake of Arizona, an anti-earmark crusader, and Jason Chaffetz of Utah, a rising Republican with an eye on the Senate. Lewis, though, is still fighting. He has reached out to leadership and lawmakers, indicating that he’s “the best candidate for the job,” as an aide put it. He’s lobbied fellow members of the California delegation and is trying to emphasize the roadblocks he put in the way of big Democratic spending bills while in the minority. On Monday, as Congress came back into session and freshmen took to Washington for orientation, Lewis suggested a bill to take back all unspent stimulus money — the American Recovery and Reinvestment Rescission Act, a play on the stimulus bill’s title. Lewis has not been bombastic in his run for a waiver and has lobbied quietly and shrewdly, potentially helping his chances. A similar fight is taking place on the Energy and Commerce Committee, where former Chairman Barton is seeking to retake the gavel, although few would say he is lobbying quietly. Barton, the outspoken Texan who earlier this year apologized to BP for the Obama administration’s “shakedown” in the midst of the Gulf oil spill, served as chairman for two years and as ranking member for four, so, like Lewis, he needs the blessing of GOP leaders. Conventional wisdom is that Barton won’t get the waiver, making Rep. Fred Upton the favorite. Before the election, GOP leadership was even working on possible staff directors for Upton. But being the front-runner means Upton has a giant target on his back, and conservatives are out in force against the Michigan lawmaker. Rush Limbaugh last week criticized Upton for teaming up with Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.) on a measure to phase out the incandescent light bulb that was folded into the 2007 energy law. “Now this would be a tone-deaf disaster if the Republican leadership lets Fred Upton ascend to the chairmanship of the House energy committee,” Limbaugh said last Thursday on his radio show. “This is exactly the kind of nannyism, statism, what have you, that was voted against and was defeated last week. No Republican complicit in nannyism, statism, can be rewarded this way. But seniority may rule the day.” Beck wasn’t as subtle, calling Upton a “socialist,” according to WKZO radio in Kalamazoo, which is in Upton’s 6th District. For his part, Barton has denied that he’s the source of an unsigned 22-page analysis of Upton’s voting record on everything from taxes to industry regulations, social issues, health care, defense, energy, environment and telecommunications. There’s also a separate three-page summary with the title “Fred Upton: Part-Time Republican?” Americans United for Life, a conservative anti-abortion group, is expressing concern about Upton’s potential chairmanship. The attacks on Upton could open the door for Reps. John Shimkus of Illinois and Cliff Stearns of Florida, a House GOP staffer said. Shimkus voted for the final 2007 energy law, as well. “It’s a problem for Mr. Upton,” the aide said. While Upton has been publishing op-eds in conservative websites and newspapers, “it might be a little too late. Maybe he should have been doing it for the last two years.” Upton pulled out his biggest gun on Monday, co-authoring a POLITICO op-ed with Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, in which the authors call for new House rules to limit federal spending. Both Barton and Upton have been raising money for other Republicans and hit the campaign trail for their colleagues. Shimkus told POLITICO last week that he’s talked with most of the members of the House GOP Steering Committee but that he’s not been whipping. “I’ve never asked anyone for a vote,” Shimkus said. “Some people have volunteers. I don’t even do it when I run congressionally. A vote is a private thing. Some people say I’m stupid for not doing that. Even when I go door to door, I give people my literature; here’s information about myself, I can answer any questions; please, I hope you give me a fair consideration.” Republicans aren’t having all the fun. On the Democratic side, Reps. Ed Markey of Massachusetts and Raul Grijalva of Arizona are fighting to be the ranking member of the Natural Resources panel. Markey has seniority and the ear of outgoing Speaker Nancy Pelosi, as well as support from environmental groups. Grijalva, who at one point was on the shortlist for President Barack Obama’s interior secretary, might have garnered more support from green groups had he run against a different opponent.
Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 1.
#1. To: Brian S (#0)
(laughing) Politico makes shit up, pretends its real, then offers it to the blogosphere.
#2. To: Badeye (#1)
That's funny. The Democrats say the same thing about Politico so I guess Politico must be pretty much over the target since they are taking flak from both sides.
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