Elections poised to scramble House Appropriations lineup

WASHINGTON — With two long-serving and influential appropriators facing tough reelection contests, along with several others down the dais, the upcoming elections could rejigger the influential spending panel’s roster.

House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Ken Calvert, R-Calif., and Energy-Water Appropriations Subcommittee ranking member Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio, are again facing tight races. So are Commerce-Justice-Science Subcommittee Appropriations ranking member Matt Cartwright, D-Pa., and Legislative Branch Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman David Valadao, R-Calif.

Losses by any of those members would open up a coveted subcommittee leadership spot, and with control of the House up for grabs this cycle, that slot could be a “cardinal” role leading a subcommittee.

Defense

Calvert’s race against former federal prosecutor Will Rollins is rated Tilt Republican by Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales. However, even if Calvert wins reelection, he will be term-limited at the top of the Defense panel.

House GOP conference rules allow members to be the top Republican on a subcommittee for three terms, or six years, before they have to give up the position. Calvert is expected to seek a waiver to continue on the top of the subcommittee, although it’s not clear whether GOP leadership will grant it.

If Calvert were to lose or not get his waiver, current Transportation-HUD Subcommittee Chairman Steve Womack, R-Ark., is considered a leading contender for the job. Womack is the most senior member on the subcommittee behind Calvert and the former full committee chairman, Harold Rogers, R-Ky.

Womack, a longtime member of the Arkansas National Guard who deployed to Egypt after the 9/11 attacks, is a strong proponent of defense spending, including aid to Ukraine. He’s steered funding to Arkansas’ Ebbing Air National Guard Base, which is a training base for the F-35 fighter jet, and last month held a ribbon-cutting for new facilities for training international F-35 pilots.

There are a few members with longer tenures on the full committee who could also make a play for the defense role.

House Appropriations Chairman Tom Cole, R-Okla., sets the lineup of subcommittee leaders, but if Cole does put a waiver forward it will ultimately be up to the Republican Steering Committee, which officially recommends the assignments, to ratify it.

House Military Construction-VA Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman John Carter, R-Texas, is also facing term limits for his role. Whether he will seek a waiver to continue isn’t clear.

Energy-Water

Kaptur is in another close race, rated Tilt Democratic by Inside Elections. First elected in 1982, Kaptur is the longest-serving woman in congressional history and is running against Republican state Rep. Derrick Merrin.

If Kaptur loses, Nevada’s Susie Lee is next in line to take over her role. But Lee is involved in her own competitive race, running against Drew Johnson, a conservative tax activist. Inside Elections rates Lee’s race Likely Democratic.

In her role on Energy-Water, Lee, a member of the Democratic wave class of 2018, has fought against funding for the Yucca Mountain repository, which is a proposed underground disposal site for radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel in Nevada. She also has pushed for funding to address wildfires and drought in the West.

State-Foreign Operations

House State-Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee ranking member Barbara Lee, D-Calif., is leaving Congress after a lengthy tenure and a fourth-place finish in the state’s Senate primary. Lee finished far behind former Republican Steve Garvey, who starred at first base for the World Series-bound Los Angeles Dodgers and later the San Diego Padres, and Democratic Rep. Adam B. Schiff. Garvey and Schiff are facing off in a race rated Solid Democratic.

New York’s Grace Meng is next in line to helm the subcommittee for Democrats. Meng, the vice chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, was first elected in 2012 to represent a Queens-based district.

During her tenure in Congress, Meng has pushed for legislation, which was signed into law, attempting to limit discrimination against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the wake of attacks on that community during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Florida’s Lois Frankel is next in line behind Meng if she decides she would rather lead the Commerce-Justice-Science panel, if Cartwright loses his reelection race.

Commerce-Justice-Science

Cartwright is in a race rated Tilt Democratic in his Scranton-area district against businessman Rob Bresnahan.

While Meng is in line to step into the Commerce-Justice-Science role because of her seniority, if she passes on it the job would fall to Joseph D. Morelle, D-N.Y.

Morelle’s upstate New York district includes the University of Rochester and the Rochester Institute of Technology, and during his time in Congress, Morelle has focused on technology funding. He was a major proponent of the 2022 semiconductor manufacturing law known as “CHIPS and Science.”

Legislative Branch

Valadao is once again in a close race, rated Tilt Republican by Inside Elections. Valadao is facing Rudy Salas, a former California assemblyman, for the second time; he won with 51.5% of the vote in 2022.

If Valadao loses, Washington Rep. Dan Newhouse is next in line to take over a subcommittee, with Michigan’s John Moolenaar behind him if both Calvert and Valadao lose.

Newhouse and Valadao are the last two House Republicans still in office who voted to impeach then-President Donald Trump after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

Down the line

Further down the dais, many less-tenured appropriators are in close races, and other more senior members are retiring, which will open up seats on the highly sought-after committee.

One prominent appropriator in a competitive race is Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, who had been the Homeland Security Appropriations ranking member before his indictment on charges of bribery and acting as a foreign agent on behalf of Azerbaijan.

Cuellar has denied the charges, and his race is rated Likely Democratic by Inside Elections. Illinois Rep. Lauren Underwood took over the Homeland Security role after Cuellar stepped aside following his indictment.

Three other House Republican appropriators are in competitive races, with California’s Mike Garcia in a Toss-Up contest with George Whitesides, a former commercial space vehicle company CEO; Arizona’s Juan Ciscomani in a race rated Tilt Republican with Kirsten Engel, a former state representative; and Montana’s Ryan Zinke in a race rated Lean Republican with Monica Tranel, a former Olympic rower.

Other appropriators are leaving office after retiring or losing in primaries.

David Trone, D-Md., lost his Senate primary against Maryland’s Angela Alsobrooks, and Jerry Carl, R-Ala., narrowly lost a member-on-member primary due to redistricting against Rep. Barry Moore.

The following members are retiring without seeking reelection: former Appropriations Chairwoman Kay Granger, R-Texas; C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger, D-Md.; Derek Kilmer, D-Wash.; and Jennifer Wexton, D-Va.

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