National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Pete Sessions of Texas hinted to a group of reporters on Capitol Hill Thursday that fellow Texan Rep. Joe Barton has a good shot at chairing the House Energy and Commerce Committee in the next Congress.
To successfully be elected chair, Barton would have to first seek a waiver from the Republican House Steering Committee because of a rule that does not allow any member to hold a ranking position on a committee for more than three terms. Barton, who has represented Texas’ 6th district since 1985, was appointed chairman of the Energy and Commerce committee in 2004, but was demoted to ranking member two years later when Democrats retook the majority.
The idea behind the rule was to prevent any one member from accruing significant amounts of power without institutional checks.
Sessions called that rule “ambiguous.”
“It is ambiguous because it occurred at a time when some people thought we would ever have to face that reality,” said Sessions.
“We are not facing that reality…I hope the facts of the case will prevail in a fair way and I believe they will. I believe he will be given a full opportunity and it appears as though these will be taken up on a case-by-case basis,” said Sessions.
When asked whether the rest of the Republican leadership shared his view of the rule being “ambiguous,” Sessions said he believes there to be a general consensus that the rule in place is anything but straightforward.
“I think we all understand that the time one might spend in the minority is different than being the chairman,” said Sessions.
He continued: “I think there are two different ways to look at it and I think Mr. Barton has successfully served one term as chairman and two terms as ranking member and I do not equate them as being equivalent.”
House Minority Leader John Boehner, who will serve as Speaker of the House in the next Congress, also spoke Thursday about the Barton dilemma.
“I don’t have a position on this, but I do think that the conversation that’s underway that involves virtually half of our committees is a dialogue that we should have,” said Boehner. “Mr. Barton is free to come to the Steering Committee and ask for a waiver just like any other member in that circumstance.”
“It is my belief that the Steering Committee will recognize the difference in a very ambiguous rule about the effective nature of Joe Barton,” said Sessions.
Other Republicans in the running to chair the Energy and Commerce Committee are Rep. Fred Upton of Michigan, Rep. John Shimkus of Illinois, and Rep. Cliff Stearns of Florida. The Steering Committee’s vote will be held sometime in December.
Chris Moody contributed to this report.