CQ TODAY PRINT EDITION
Updated Nov. 20, 2008 – 6:26 p.m.
Breakdown of House Committees: Increased Majority Gives Democrats a Clearer Path to Enactment of Agenda
By CQ Staff
Agriculture | Appropriations | Armed Services | Budget | Education and Labor | Energy and Commerce | Financial Services | Foreign Affairs | Homeland Security | House Administration | Intelligence | Judiciary | Natural Resources | Oversight and Government Reform | Rules | Science and Technology | Small Business | Standards of Official Conduct (Ethics) | Transportation and Infrastructure | Veterans' Affairs | Ways and Means
The 2008 election will create a House that is more Democratic, more liberal and missing several long-serving Republicans.
Few changes are expected at the top of committees, with virtually all chairman returning for another term with the gavel.
But there will be considerable reshuffling in the minority ranks, at both the full committee and subcommittee levels, because of retirements and election defeats.
With the larger majority, Democrats will increase their margins in committees, making priority legislation even easier to get to the floor than it was in the 110th Congress.
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Agriculture
With a new five-year farm law reauthorization enacted, the Agriculture Committee will turn its attention early in the new Congress to addressing commodity futures trading.
The panel approved legislation (
Chairman Collin C. Peterson , D-Minn., is gearing up for a fresh look at the issue early in the new Congress. At the same time, the panel is likely to consider regulation of credit default swaps, insurance-like contracts blamed for contributing to the financial system’s meltdown. Peterson has urged a cautious approach to imposing new rules for financial markets, warning that rash regulation will drive capital to overseas markets. The panel has jurisdiction over the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
Also on the committee’s agenda will be implementation of the $289 billion farm law (PL 110-246), enacted over President Bush’s veto in June, that reauthorized farm support programs, tightened income eligibility limits for payments, boosted funding for food stamps and expanded conservation programs.
Another priority will be restructuring the Agriculture Department to eliminate redundant offices. Ideas include creating a single office for specialty crops and improving communication among the Farm Service Agency, Risk Management Agency and Natural Resources Conservation Service.
Watch for Peterson to prod the Agriculture Department to roll out a nationwide animal identification program, which would register where each cow, chicken and pig is born, sold and slaughtered. The intention is to better prepare the United States for animal disease outbreaks. Food safety is also on the to-do list, but major changes could be cost prohibitive.
GOP caucus term limits are expected to require Virginia’s Robert W. Goodlatte to step aside as ranking Republican. Oklahoman Frank D. Lucas , a leading contender to become ranking Republican, will ask party leadership to change caucus rules so Goodlatte can stay on, an aide said. Lucas has the edge in seniority over another possible contender, Jerry Moran of Kansas.
Terry Everett , R-Ala., is retiring, and four Republicans lost Tuesday: John R. “Randy” Kuhl Jr. of New York, Tim Walberg of Michigan, Marilyn Musgrave of Colorado (the ranking member on the Specialty Crops, Rural Development and Foreign Agriculture Subcommittee), and Robin Hayes of North Carolina (the ranking member on the Livestock, Dairy and Poultry panel). Three Democrats lost: Nancy Boyda of Kansas, Nick Lampson of Texas and Tim Mahoney of Florida.
Appropriations
The appropriations process should run more smoothly next year than it did in the 110th Congress.
President-elect Barack Obama ’s spending priorities align far more closely with those of Appropriations Chairman David R. Obey , D-Wis., than did President Bush’s.
The first big task facing the panel is likely to be an omnibus to finish the nine remaining fiscal 2009 spending bills. Democrats earlier this year gave up on finishing those bills after the White House made clear that vetoes awaited them.
They resorted to a continuing resolution (PL 110-329) that lasts through March 6, 2009, for everything but Defense, Homeland Security and Military Construction-Veterans’ Affairs.
Democrats appear confident that an Obama presidency will allow them to enact their favored top line for fiscal 2009 spending.
There is an extremely slim possibility that Democrats could act on the remaining appropriations bills before Obama takes over if Bush relents on more spending in exchange for movement on a free-trade agreement with Colombia. Democrats might also send Obama a stimulus package early in his term if they are not able to enact one during the lame-duck session starting Nov. 17.
After two years of failing to finish the bulk of the appropriations work in time for the new fiscal year, Democrats will look to improve their record and demonstrate they can govern. Democrats will also have to deal with another war supplemental by next summer.
Barring further scandals related to the earmarking process, it is unlikely Democrats will take much further action on curbing the practice than they did in the 110th Congress.
Although there are not expected to be many changes to the committee roster on the Democratic side, with all subcommittee cardinals expected to remain in their posts, the Republican slate will see significant changes, with six retirements and another vacancy due to Michigan Republican Joe Knollenberg ’s ouster in the election.
Three Republicans — David L. Hobson and Ralph Regula of Ohio and James T. Walsh of New York — are retiring, opening up vacancies for the top GOP slots on the Energy and Water; Financial Services; and Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education subcommittees.
Minority Leader John A. Boehner , R-Ohio, has promised a seat on the committee to Tom Cole , R-Okla., in exchange for withdrawing his name from consideration to fill the slot created by Roger Wicker , R-Miss., who moved over to the Senate.
Wicker’s seat was filled by Jo Bonner , R-Ala. Other Republicans who threw their hats in the ring at that time included Henry E. Brown Jr. and Joe Wilson , both of South Carolina; Jeff Flake of Arizona; Marilyn Musgrave of Colorado; Dave Reichert of Washington; and Michael R. Turner of Ohio. Musgrave lost Tuesday, and Reichert’s race was too close to call.
Armed Services
The House Armed Services Committee will retain its Democratic leadership under a strengthened House majority and a Democratic president, but the panel will see sweeping changes on the Republican side.
The Democratic lineup of committee and subcommittee chairmen will stay the same, with Ike Skelton of Missouri retaining the full committee gavel.
On the Republican side, John M. McHugh of New York is expected to ascend to the post of ranking member in place of the retiring Duncan Hunter . The ranking GOP members of the subcommittees also are expected to shuffle.
The committee will have to grapple with downward pressure on the defense budget even as it is asked to authorize funds to rebuild the military after years of fighting two wars and a worldwide counterterrorism campaign.
The Pentagon budget hikes “have to level off, barring some unforeseen event in the world,” said William M. “Mac” Thornberry of Texas, the ranking Republican on the Subcommittee on Terrorism, Unconventional Threats and Capabilities.
Obama has promised a review of all weapons programs, which will take months to complete, and has suggested reducing spending on missile defense and the Army’s Future Combat Systems.
The majority is likely to support the general theme of Pentagon belt-tightening, especially for its futuristic weapons systems. “We’ve got to cut back on the Flash Gordon stuff,” said Neil Abercrombie , D-Hawaii, chairman of the Air and Land Forces panel.
But many senior Democrats also have a list of programs they want to protect, from C-17 transports to ships to refueling planes.
Republicans are ready to strike back against any defense cuts.
“Obama has made a lot of other promises for other spending, and it does make me worry where defense fits in with his priorities,” said Thornberry.
Budget
With Democrats controlling Congress and the White House, the party will have its first opportunity since 1994 to set the nation’s fiscal agenda.
The Budget panel’s first priority will be to secure adoption of the annual budget resolution, a non-binding blueprint that guides spending and tax decisions. “I think we’ll be the first big item on the agenda around here, and more than usual the budget will be a challenge to pass,” said panel Chairman John M. Spratt Jr. , D-S.C. “And if we can’t get it done, it looks like we can’t govern.”
Congressional Democrats and President-elect Obama face the twin pressures of wanting to spend more on party priorities — infrastructure, education and tax cuts aimed at the middle class — while achieving their stated goal of governing in a fiscally responsible way.
Democrats might choose to make changes to the budget process, including tweaking the specifics of the pay-as-you-go rule that requires the cost of new mandatory spending and tax cuts to be offset. Party fiscal hawks have said they would like to see the rule be given more teeth by making it law.
Because of committee term limit rules, which exclude the chairman and ranking member, senior Democrats Chet Edwards of Texas, Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut and Jim Cooper of Tennessee will be leaving the panel.
Rep. Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin is expected to return as the panel’s ranking Republican. He shares little in common with Democrats, but has been eager to address entitlement spending and could be a dealmaker if the two parties choose to address it.
One idea that has gained steam is creating a commission or task force that would draft policy proposals Congress would have to consider. Spratt is not in favor of that approach but has not closed off consideration of the idea entirely.
Education and Labor
The biggest legislative chore that will confront the committee next year is a reauthorization of the 2001 education law known as No Child Left Behind. But the panel’s agenda is likely to be hijacked by fallout from the financial crisis and faltering economy.
Chairman George Miller , D-Calif., has also suggested that changes to retirement account and pension regulations will be a top priority. He has called for greater transparency for 401(k) retirement accounts so account holders can fully understand how their funds are managed and what fees they pay.
The committee is likely to tackle the availability of college financial aid. Private sources of assistance have become more difficult for students and their families to secure because of the current credit crunch. Another priority could be an extension of unemployment benefits, if that is not done as part of a stimulus package during the lame-duck session later this month.
With President-elect Obama in office, enacting some of the priorities favored by organized labor will be easier.
A top priority is legislation that would allow unions to organize workplaces through a card-check procedure rather than a secret ballot, and provide for arbitration on contract negotiations. Unions also are seeking legislation to counteract a National Labor Relations Board decision that broadened the definition of who is a supervisor, which reduced their potential pool of members.
The committee might also once again try to require the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to boost regulatory and safety standards in high-risk industries.
Miller and ranking Republican Howard P. “Buck” McKeon of California are expected to retain their positions, as are the returning subcommittee chairmen. Four-term Rep. Ric Keller , ranking member of the Subcommittee on Higher Education, Lifelong Learning, and Competitiveness, lost his race in central Florida.
The No Child Left Behind law (PL 107-110) expired in 2007 and was kept alive this year by an automatic one-year extension. Appropriations will fund the law’s programs in fiscal 2009, but there was little enthusiasm for tackling the divisive issue this year.
Miller’s first attempt at reauthorization this year came unglued when teachers unions came out in opposition to his proposal to allow school districts to give teachers raises based on a combination of factors including test scores.
Energy and Commerce
Rep. Henry A. Waxman will challenge Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman John D. Dingell for the top spot.
Waxman, D-Calif., now chairs the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and is the most senior Democrat on Energy and Commerce behind Dingell, D-Mich., who has shown no intention of stepping aside. However, he has tangled with Speaker Nancy Pelosi , D-Calif., on several occasions. The outcome of the leadership battle will likely determine the panel’s course.
Earlier this fall, it seemed the stage was set for Energy and Commerce to become the main stage in the climate change debate. Dingell and Rick Boucher , D-Va., released a long-awaited draft bill that was widely viewed as the most realistic vehicle for moving comprehensive global warming legislation next year.
But the new economic realities might make lawmakers postpone or tone down efforts to cut carbon emissions, since a comprehensive climate change bill would affect nearly every sector of the economy, transforming the way energy is produced and consumed, and sending the price of fossil fuels soaring, at least at first.
Ultimately, the panel may wait for cues from President-elect Obama. Some insiders say that in the first year of the Obama administration, energy and climate change initiatives might come packaged in economic and tax proposals, on which the Energy panel would work jointly with the Ways and Means Committee.
On the telecommunications front, the nationwide shutdown of analog television broadcasts on Feb. 17, 2009, will force the committee to tune in on oversight early in the legislative year.
The committee will find itself working with a deadline on another major telecommunications project: reauthorizing the Satellite Home Viewer Act (PL 108-447), which put satellite TV providers on equal footing with their cable competitors.
House Republicans, concerned about several Democratic leaders’ proposed reinstatement of the “fairness doctrine” for broadcasters, are likely to renew efforts to pass legislation that would block the FCC from acting.
Obama has said he does not support restoring the doctrine, but fears persist that Democrats might move to reinstate it as a way to quiet conservative talk-radio hosts.
Aside from the potential switch at the top, the panel will also undergo a change in composition and possibly size. Five GOP members this year retired or chose not to seek re-election, and two Democrats also left.
Financial Services
Chairman Barney Frank is planning a busy year, saying his panel will tackle a complete overhaul of financial regulation on the scale of the New Deal.
The committee is expected to consider tighter capital standards for banks, more oversight for the lightly regulated hedge fund industry and new standards for credit default swaps. Frank has said the overhaul is a necessary second act after the financial bailout law (PL 110-343) enacted in October.
Lawmakers from both parties have said Congress has an obligation to revamp the system after putting so much taxpayer money on the line. While the overhaul will take several months, if not years, to come together, lawmakers plan to keep a close eye on how the financial rescue continues to unfold.
Looking past the near-term oversight of the bailout, the committee will have its hands full updating the nation’s regulatory regime to match the complexities of the modern economy. President-elect Obama could help Democrats accomplish some of their goals, including tougher home lending standards and requirements for more transparency from financial companies.
Texas Republican Jeb Hensarling , chairman of the Republican Study Committee, will likely head GOP opposition to any major tightening of regulations. House Republicans are also expected to push for more investigations into the role of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the financial crisis.
Foreign Affairs
California Democrat Howard L. Berman wants to overhaul U.S. foreign assistance programs as part of his agenda as chairman of the Foreign Affairs panel.
Critics of U.S. foreign assistance say the programs are a jumble of understaffed bureaucracies with no mandate or leader.
“Foreign assistance is broken,” says committee staff director Bob King. “Everyone recognizes that.”
Whether that will entail a rewrite of almost 50 years of foreign aid law or a more targeted approach depends in part on the new administration. President-elect Obama’s extensive domestic agenda also creates an uphill battle for new foreign policy initiatives.
The next administration and Congress will have to decide what to do with some of the programs Bush started, either as part of an attempt at foreign aid overhaul or piecemeal.
Those include the Millennium Challenge Corporation, a development agency whose mission is to reward countries that adopt free-market, democratic policies; the Merida Initiative with Mexico to battle the illegal drug trade; and global AIDS and malaria initiatives, for which Congress just authorized a tripling of funding (PL 110-293) over the next five years.
Berman also wants to move a State Department authorization bill, but as has usually been the case over the past several years, a narrow authorization that does not address country-specific policies might be the best that he can hope for.
A rogue North Korea, unstable Pakistan and bellicose Iran make nuclear proliferation another Berman concern. He would like to see the United States push a tough line in the run-up to a conference in 2010 that will chart the future of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
While most of the action lies elsewhere, the committee will continue oversight of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, with a more sympathetic tone toward the new administration.
Homeland Security
Drawing on the knowledge he gleaned as a member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, President-elect Obama set out a broad — though non-specific — strategy for securing the homeland.
Much of Obama’s plan falls in line with the priorities that Bennie Thompson , D-Miss., chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, plans to address in the 111th Congress.
Among other things, both Obama and Thompson have said that providing better security in America’s skies, ground transportation systems and shipping lanes are priorities.
Democrats on the Homeland Security Committee also are expected to focus on overseeing implementation of the Sept. 11 commission act (PL 110-53), which put into law many of the recommendations of that panel.
The committee will give ample attention to overseeing the implementation of 100 percent cargo screening requirements for all air freight transported on passenger planes in U.S. airspace and all maritime cargo bound for U.S. ports. Republicans and industries involved in shipping and trade have been fighting the requirement as too expensive and detrimental to commerce.
The Intelligence, Information Sharing and Terrorism Risk Assessment Subcommittee will need a new ranking member if Dave Reichert of Washington ends up losing his too-close-to-call race. — Matthew M. Johnson
House Administration
Chairman Robert A. Brady will likely keep his role as Mayor of Capitol Hill, as chairmen of the House Administration Committee have come to be known because of their street-level power to deal with House-side real estate, solve problems and distribute perks for members. Pelosi tapped the Pennsylvania Democrat as chairman in mid-2007 after the death of Rep. Juanita Millender-McDonald of California.
In the 110th Congress, six Democrats and three Republicans sat on the panel. Barring any unanticipated leadership decisions to cut the number of members down, the ratio should remain the same.
Among the panel’s duties are settling election questions, including disputed House elections; oversight of the Capitol Police and Capitol Visitor Center (CVC); personnel issues; and franking.
The Visitor Center is scheduled to have its grand opening in December, and monitoring its operations might become such a large part of the committee’s portfolio that the lineup of subcommittees could be changed to create a CVC panel.
Rep. Vernon J. Ehlers of Michigan will likely remain the committee’s ranking member. California Republicans Dan Lungren and Kevin McCarthy are expected to remain on the panel as well.
Intelligence
House Intelligence Chairman Silvestre Reyes , D-Texas, said bolstering intelligence gathering in Iraq and Afghanistan will top his agenda during the 111th Congress.
Reyes begins his second Congress as chairman of the panel, joined again by Peter Hoekstra of Michigan as the top Republican.
Reyes said he wants to get the annual intelligence authorization bill signed into law. No intelligence authorization has been enacted since the fiscal 2005 version, mostly due to disagreements between Congress and the Bush White House. With President-elect Obama in the White House, concerns about executive branch opposition will likely melt away.
Other areas of emphasis for Reyes include oversight of cybersecurity, spy satellite programs, the security clearance process and the growth of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid , D-Nev., has said the Senate might revisit the law (PL 110-261) enacted this year that updated the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (PL 95-511). Pelosi has made no such remarks, and Reyes said he will await guidance from her on whether to reopen the measure.
The retirement of Alabamians Robert E. “Bud” Cramer , a Democrat, and Terry Everett , a Republican, will leave vacancies atop the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee. The departure of Heather A. Wilson , R-N.M., will leave an opening for the top Republican slot on the Technical and Tactical Intelligence Subcommittee. Rep. Leonard L. Boswell , D-Iowa, is expected to depart from the panel after serving four terms on the committee.
Judiciary
Judiciary Democrats are eyeing several pieces of legislation aimed at recalibrating the balance of power between the executive and legislative branches. At the top of the list could be bills that would limit use of the state secrets doctrine and curb the use of presidential signing statements.
Democrats will continue to demand documents and testimony related to a probe of the 2006 firing of nine U.S. attorneys. Subpoenas issued this year expire at the end of the 110th Congress, but the committee is expected to reissue them.
Republicans are likely to be far more critical of Obama’s administration after years of deferring to Bush and his robust view of executive authority.
Lamar Smith of Texas, the committee’s ranking Republican, could face pressure to be more confrontational with the majority. Smith struck a more cordial tone with Chairman John Conyers Jr. , D-Mich., than did F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. , R-Wis., when he served as committee chairman.
Howard L. Berman , D-Calif., is leaving the chairmanship of the Courts, the Internet and Intellectual Property Subcommittee chairmanship in favor of the Foreign Relations Committee chairmanship. That is likely to spark a shuffling of Judiciary subcommittee chairmanships. Rick Boucher of Virginia, the third-most senior Democrat on the panel with a longtime interest in intellectual property, is an obvious candidate, but he already chairs a subcommittee on the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
The question of who replaces Berman is of particular interest to the technology and pharmaceutical industries, which have squared off over the patent law overhaul Berman has shepherded along with Smith. But no matter who takes that subcommittee gavel, the ultimate fate of any patent bill in the 111th Congress is likely to rest in the Senate, where it died earlier this year.
In the 110th Congress, Democrats generally avoided major debates over fractious social issues that divide their caucus. It’s not a certainty that such restraint will continue. Obama has said the first bill he’d sign as president is the Freedom of Choice Act, which would supersede state restrictions on abortions.
Another divisive issue that could remain on the back burner, at least at the beginning of the 111th Congress, is an overhaul of immigration law.
Under Obama, congressional Democrats could feel less cautious about addressing the disparity in sentencing for crack and powdered cocaine, a difference that disproportionately affects African-Americans.
The committee will have one piece of unfinished business hanging over at the start of the new Congress: a potential impeachment inquiry of G. Thomas Porteous, a district court judge in the Eastern District of Louisiana.
Natural Resources
The Natural Resources Committee has approved more than 200 bills in the 110th Congress, but only a small fraction made it through the Senate. The hope for Chairman Nick J. Rahall II is that a new president and a larger Democratic majority will create a more favorable environment to advance his priorities.
Alaska’s Don Young appears to have hung onto his seat and is expected to return as ranking Republican. If later results reverse that, House Republicans could turn to Elton Gallegly of California, who is next in line. Other possible contenders include Rob Bishop of Utah and John J. “Jimmy” Duncan Jr. of Tennessee.
Two subcommittee ranking Republicans, Steve Pearce of New Mexico and Luis Fortu??o of Puerto Rico, are retiring.
Early in the session, Rahall, D-W.Va., will probably try to revisit a moratorium on oil and gas exploration off the Pacific and Atlantic coasts. Congress allowed the moratorium to expire this year. As a first step, Rahall plans to hold a series of hearings on oil and gas leasing issues.
Meanwhile, the panel will open a new round in the perennial debate over a mining law that dates to 1872. Lawmakers have attempted to change the statute for decades, but they have run into opposition from allies of the mining industry in Western states.
An early priority for the committee will be Indian health care. This bill will be “at the very top of the agenda,” Rahall said. The goal is to reauthorize a law (PL 94-437) that directs federal delivery of services to American Indians and Alaska Natives.
The panel will probably spend much of its time on legislation to create new wilderness areas, parks or historic sites. These bills are often non-contentious priorities for individual states and districts, though Republicans sometimes flag concerns about property rights. During the lame-duck session, Congress might take up omnibus legislation that would combine about 150 public lands bills. If the package does not become law, the committee will likely revisit it next year.
Oversight and Government Reform
No matter who wields the gavel in the 111th Congress, the committee will continue to be the site for many of Capitol Hill’s public show trials pillorying well-dressed people before a TV audience.
But in the 111th Congress, the people in the hot seat before the chairman — whether it is Henry A. Waxman , D-Calif., who is making a play to take over the Energy and Commerce Committee, New Yorker Edolphus Towns , who is next in line, or someone else — are more likely to come from the private sector than from the executive branch.
The committee has wide latitude in what it considers, and generally takes up the hot-button issues of the day. There are likely to be continuing investigations of the meltdown of the financial sector, which will set the stage for leadership-driven legislation.
The committee had two years in which to grill Bush administration officials based on six years of pent-up Democratic frustration. Waxman held no fewer than 76 full committee hearings, 200 including subcommittees. With the retirement of Thomas M. Davis III of Virginia, Republicans have an opportunity to shake things up and place a more pugnacious member in their top spot.
Californian Darrell Issa , who specializes in throwing bombs at Democrats, has announced his aim to lead the minority, though he would have to jump over several more-senior Republicans.
Rules
Frustrated House Republicans set a record in the 110th Congress, bringing to the floor 120 motions to recommit, a vote the Rules Committee grants the minority as a last chance to amend a bill before final passage. There’s a chance that unless the partisan differences in the new Congress cool, the GOP could be on another record-setting pace in the next two years.
The record, which smashed the old mark of 56 that then-minority Democrats set in the 109th Congress, reflects the often angry partisan tenor of discussion in the 13-member committee, which sets the ground rules for debating legislation in the House.
Republicans, led by ranking member David Dreier of California, say Democrats have failed to live up to the promises that fellow Californian Pelosi made when Democrats assumed control in January 2007. The pledges included giving the minority more opportunity to present amendments on the floor and the committee’s adoption of more open rules that do not limit the number or nature of germane amendments.
It hasn’t worked out that way. Democrats, led by Chairwoman Louise M. Slaughter of New York, say the GOP is frequently up to mischief. The majority has accused the minority of being more interested in derailing legislation or embarrassing potentially vulnerable members of the majority by forcing them to cast votes on hot-button issues than in legislating.
On the Democratic side, membership on the committee will see at least some changes. Doris Matsui of California was picked for an Energy and Commerce Committee slot in 2008. Since both Rules and Energy and Commerce are exclusive committees, meaning members can’t serve on any other panel, she is expected to leave.
Science and Technology
Heading into the 111th Congress, the Science and Technology Committee is expected to maintain its focus on increasing America’s global competitiveness through bolstering math and science research and education.
Committee spokeswoman Alex Dery-Snider said the panel, which will continue to be led by Chairman Bart Gordon , D-Tenn., with Ralph M. Hall of Texas as ranking Republican, will oversee a 2007 law (PL 110-69) that significantly raised federal funding for math and science research and education initiatives.
The committee also will tackle a NASA reauthorization — the current one expires at the end of fiscal 2009 — to give the new administration time to decide, among other things, whether to continue with plans to retire the space shuttle fleet in 2010.
Dery-Snider said the committee also will continue to press oversight of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s troubled NPOESS weather-sensing satellite.
The committee’s leadership structure is expected to remain the same, with one exception. Colorado Democrat Mark Udall ’s decision to leave the House to run for Senate leaves the Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee chairmanship vacant.
Nick Lampson , D-Texas, who represents the district containing the Johnson Space Center, would have been a logical heir-apparent to Udall, but he lost Tuesday. That means the Energy and Environment Subcommittee, which Lampson chaired, will get new leadership — Jerry F. Costello , D-Ill., is next in line. The Space and Aeronautics panel is in flux. David Wu , D-Ore., and Brian Baird , D-Wash., are senior, but both already chair other subcommittees and have not expressed an interest in switching.
Small Business
The House Small Business Committee will be one of many panels addressing the economic downturn in 2009, as Democrats deal with the effects of the financial industry crisis and tight credit markets on small firms.
The committee will likely play a role in a new economic stimulus package being planned by Democrats; it held hearings recently on the impact of the economic turmoil on small businesses. Making the tax code more favorable for small businesses is a stated goal of Chairwoman Nydia M. Vel?!zquez, D-N.Y., who introduced legislation (
Among the top priorities for small-business advocates next year will be the reauthorization of the Small Business Administration. Lawmakers have been unable to agree on the specifics of a reauthorization since 2006.
There will be changes in the committee’s lineup: The defeat of Ohio’s Steve Chabot will likely throw the ranking Republican slot to Roscoe G. Bartlett of Maryland. David Davis of Tennessee, ranking Republican on the Contracting and Technology Subcommittee, lost in the GOP primary.
Standards of Official Conduct (Ethics)
Two new faces could be in charge of ethics investigations in the 111th Congress.
After Stephanie Tubbs Jones , D-Ohio, died in August, Speaker Pelosi selected Rep. Gene Green of Texas to take over as acting chairman.
Ethics members are allowed to serve no more than three consecutive terms, unless that person is tapped to serve one more term as chairman or ranking minority member. Green’s six years are up, and it’s unclear whether Pelosi will ask him to return.
Another name being mentioned for the chairmanship is Bill Delahunt , D-Mass., who has served only one term on the panel.
In addition, Republicans are in line to lose their ranking member, Doc Hastings of Washington. Jo Bonner of Alabama is next in line to replace Hastings.
Robert C. Scott , D-Va., is expected to remain a member of the committee because he is part of an ongoing investigation. Scott, who was appointed to Tubbs Jones’ seat, is on the subcommittee examining financial transactions of Ways and Means Chairman Charles B. Rangel , D-N.Y. Any probe that is not complete at the end of one Congress can be carried over to the next Congress, though that action is not automatic.
Transportation and Infrastructure
Chairman James L. Oberstar has been waiting more than 40 years — since he himself was a young aide to the committee — for the chance to author a new highway law. Now the Minnesota Democrat will play the leading role in writing what promises to be the biggest overhaul of federal transportation policy in 50 years.
The committee will start the 111th Congress with hearings examining every facet of surface transportation and how it’s funded. The challenge will be figuring out how to replenish the federal Highway Trust Fund and substantially increase revenue for infrastructure projects, with the legislation projected to cost as much as $1 trillion over five years.
Restoring the nation’s infrastructure has been a largely bipartisan mission, but the funding debate could reveal a partisan divide.
Ninety percent of revenue for the highway system is now raised from motor-fuel taxes. This year, responding to higher prices at the pump, Americans drove less than projected. As a result, Congress passed a law (PL 110-318) to replenish the Highway Trust Fund with an $8 billion transfer from the general fund.
Next year, Oberstar’s committee will grapple with whether to retain the gasoline tax as the primary funding stream or look for new revenue sources. Among alternatives that have been suggested are congestion fees, taxes based on miles driven instead of gallons, public-private partnerships and bond issues.
Highway bills have long been vehicles for members’ special projects. In the anti-earmark climate, Oberstar will have to tread carefully when writing into law what he calls “member high-priority projects.”
The chairman benefits from a strong working relationship with ranking Republican John L. Mica of Florida, who has acted as a liaison to the Bush White House. While Mica will lose that role with a Democrat at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue, he still is expected to play a prominent role in developing the highway bill.
The panel will have plenty on its plate in addition to the highway bill. Congress might take up an economic stimulus in the lame-duck session this month that would include a burst of infrastructure spending. If the stimulus doesn’t get done in the current Congress, it is likely to be among the first orders of business in January.
Oberstar has suggested that his panel will work through a Federal Aviation Administration authorization early next year that will be similar to the $68.5 billion measure (
The committee also will look to approve a Coast Guard authorization bill again next year. A bill (
The committee also will work on another water resources bill to fund Army Corps of Engineers projects. The bipartisan measure became law (PL 110-114) for the first time in seven years in November 2007 when Congress overrode a presidential veto. Water resources legislation has traditionally been a two-year bill and Oberstar hopes to get it back on that track.
Veterans’ Affairs
President-elect Barack Obama ’s repeated pledge to bring troops home from the battlefields of Iraq will place an urgent demand on the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee to expand government’s capacity to provide medical, readjustment and housing benefits for veterans and their families.
The Veterans Benefits Administration is buried under a backlog of about 400,000 unprocessed claims. With roughly 152,000 troops now serving in Iraq, that backlog could grow significantly.
Obama pledged to hire more claims processors, create an interoperable electronic claims management system, and make the Veterans Health Administration a centerpiece of his health care overhaul.
Obama’s goals appear to fall in line with the priorities of panel Chairman Bob Filner . During the California Democrat’s two-year stint atop the committee, he has been an advocate of aggressively funding the VA and providing more services to veterans. One idea Filner floated in the 110th, and which is likely to resurface next year, would boost medical and psychological evaluations for returning veterans.
Filner’s proposal also would require veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan to attend a camp for several weeks of decompression, readjustment and mental evaluations before being allowed to go home.
Another policy proposal that could come from Filner would treat VA benefits in much the same way the IRS treats tax collections. A claimant would be able to collect benefits up front; afterward, the claims would be subject to a VA audit. If the benefits were found to be invalid, the veteran would have to cover the related expenses.
Ways and Means
The congressional response to the economic crisis and any strategy for shaping the country’s long-term fiscal future will go through the Ways and Means Committee, putting the panel once again at the center of the action.
The committee will likely consider efforts to stimulate the economy, overhaul the tax code and expand access to health care.
Perhaps the biggest question is which issue the committee will tackle first, and the answer to that might not become clear until January. During the campaign, President-elect Obama promised action on taxes, economic recovery and health care, and wants to push all of them, but Congress rarely has the capacity to tackle more than one big issue at a time.
The economy seems the most pressing, but that could get addressed during the coming lame-duck session of the 110th Congress as lawmakers consider a stimulus proposal.
Health care was at the center of the Democratic primary campaign, and many Ways and Means Democrats would see expanded coverage as a major, career-making accomplishment. But they are divided on the path to take.
The tax code, meanwhile, has a deadline. On Dec. 31, 2010, the individual income tax rate structure will revert to pre-2001 levels unless Congress acts.
Obama wants to allow the tax cuts for the highest earners to expire, provide a new array of cuts for the middle class and boost the earned-income tax credit — direct payments from the government for the lowest wage earners who pay no income taxes.
Committee Democrats generally agree, though several of them tend to be more concerned about the alternative minimum tax (AMT) and corporate taxation than Obama was during the campaign. Obama’s election should allow Democrats to freeze the estate tax at around its 2009 levels instead of allowing it to expire temporarily, as it would under current law Jan. 1, 2010.
Tax writers also will have to deal with the annual AMT “patch” and the expiration of many popular provisions at the end of 2009.
Charles B. Rangel of New York is expected back for a second term as chairman, having so far survived a series of scandals related to his personal finances. The Democratic roster is largely unchanged. One additional Democrat, presumably John Tanner of Tennessee, will get a subcommittee gavel.
Much bigger changes are coming on the GOP side. Ranking Republican Jim McCrery of Louisiana retired, leaving open the top spot in the minority. Two senior members, conservative Wally Herger of California and the more moderate Dave Camp of Michigan, are competing for the chance to be the House Republicans’ counterweight to Rangel and a prominent voice on the economy. Phil English of Pennsylvania, the top Republican on the Select Revenue Measures Subcommittee, lost his re-election bid.
A vacancy appears likely on the Democratic side if Rahm Emanuel of Illinois leaves the House to become Obama’s chief of staff.
Aliya Sternstein, Liriel Higa, John M. Donnelly, David Clarke, Karoun Demirjian, Coral Davenport, Drew Armstrong, Adrianne Kroepsch, Benton Ives, Adam Graham-Silverman, Matthew M. Johnson, Molly K. Hooper, Tim Starks, Seth Stern, Avery Palmer, Edward Epstein, Kathryn A. Wolfe, Joseph J. Schatz, Colby Itkowitz and Richard Rubin contributed to this report.
First posted Nov. 5, 2008 2:48 p.m.
Clarification
Clarifies that Chairman Miller's proposal would allow school districts to award teacher raises based on a combination of factors, including test scores.
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