House Energy & Commerce Gets New Look
With Republicans now in the majority, there are changes to the way some of the House Committees will look and operate during the 112th Congress. One of those changes will be the structure for the Energy & Commerce Committee. Now under the leadership of Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI), the overall Committee size will shrink from 59 to 52 seats (30 Republicans and 22 Democrats). The Committee will add 12 new GOP members and lose 8 Democrats. The E&C subcommittees grow from 5 to 6 and realign some of their jurisdictions. The former Energy & Environment Subcommittee (responsible for drinking water issues) now splits its areas of focus between Environment & Economy (where drinking water will reside) and Energy & Power. The former Communications, Technology & Internet and Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Affairs now are realigned to become Communications & Technology and Manufacturing & Trade. Both the Oversight and Health subcommittees retain their original jurisdictions.
The new subcommittee structure and designated chairs/vice chairs looks like this:
Communications & Technology Health
Chair – Greg Walden (OR) Chair – Joe Pitts (PA)
Vice – Lee Terry (NE) Vice – Mike Burgess (TX)
Environment & Economy Energy & Power
Chair – John Shimkus (IL) Chair – Ed Whitfield (KY)
Vice – Tim Murphy (PA) Vice – John Sullivan (OK)
Oversight & Investigations Manufacturing & Trade
Chair – Cliff Stearns (FL) Chair – Mary Bono Mack (CA)
N/A Vice – Marsha Blackburn (TN)
Chairman Upton has also created a “Chairman Emeritus” position for Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX) who was term-limited by party rules from taking up the Committee gavel this time. Rep. Sue Myrick (NC) will serve has the full Committee Vice Chair. The Democrats have not yet named their subcommittee ranking members. Henry Waxman (D-CA) retains his seniority as the full Committee Ranking Minority Member. A full roster of all Committee members is not yet available.
