GOP Steering Committee to Vote as Soon as Tuesday on House Commerce Head
The GOP Steering Committee soon will begin considering candidates to lead the House Commerce Committee, voting as soon as Tuesday, said industry lobbyists, lawmakers and Capitol Hill aides watching the vigorous competition to chair the committee. It’s likely to amount to a contest between Fred Upton of Michigan; Ranking Member Joe Barton of Texas, a former Commerce chairman; and John Shimkus of Illinois, several communications industry lobbyists said. Upton is the senior-most committee member in contention for the top spot. Barton may need a waiver Republican caucus rules to again head the committee.
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Several industry lobbyists said Upton is most likely to win approval of the steering committee among all the candidates, though they noted that Hill aides involved in the process hadn’t confirmed to them who the front-runner is. Hill aides we spoke to Monday were tight-lipped on who, if anyone, had the inside track. Spokespeople for Barton, Shimkus and Upton had no comment.
The House Republican Steering Committee will meet 3 p.m. Tuesday to vote on recommendations for House committee chairmen, said Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., a steering committee member. The body will try to vote on all the recommendations Tuesday, but the work may stretch to Wednesday, he said. The entire House GOP membership will meet at 10 a.m. Wednesday to vote on the recommendations, Cole said.
Cole said the Commerce Committee chairmanship isn’t between just Barton and Upton. Rep. Cliff Stearns of Florida and Shimkus will also get votes, he said. Cole called a runoff possible. Appropriations, with three strong candidates, is the only other runoff possibility, he said. Cole wouldn’t say how he'll vote or how the committee is leaning.
It’s unclear whether Upton or Barton will win the chairmanship, said Vice President Tom Wacker of the National Telecommunications Cooperative Association. Barton seems to have a “tough row to hoe,” considering the personalities involved in the race and the GOP leadership’s view on term limits, Wacker said: “I have gotten a sense that both offices think they have a very good chance, which is interesting.”
"I don’t think it’s in the bag quite yet, but I'm still hearing that Upton has the votes” of the steering committee, said an industry lobbyist who’s a Republican. Upton has the support of the steering committee, said another communications industry lobbyist. The “steering committee is viewed as the ‘leadership’ group -- i.e., speaker-controlled and more moderate -- so Upton is a good fit,” the lobbyist said. The House GOP caucus as a whole is seen as more conservative politically than the steering committee, the lobbyist said. Barton and Upton each have tried to portray themselves as conservative, as they courted support from House colleagues.
Any loser of a steering committee vote can seek to be considered by the full House Republican caucus, industry and Hill officials said. The entire GOP membership will vote to ratify committee chairmanships on Wednesday, industry and Hill officials said. In that process, all Republican congressmen give a thumbs’ up or thumbs’ down to the slate put forth by the steering committee, an industry lobbyist watching the process said. Lobbyists said a loser in the steering committee vote could seek to have the caucus decide whether to name another contender as chairman, though that seems unlikely to happen.