Waxman leaves oversight panel for energy committee
The House oversight committee will have new leadership on the Democratic and Republican sides.
Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) will chair the House Energy and Commerce Committee in the next Congress, according to several news reports and a statement from the committee chairman leaving the post.
Waxman has been chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee for the past two years and in that post led major reforms of federal contracting, such as limiting the use of no-bid contracts.
Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.), the outgoing chairman, today issued a statement congratulating Waxman on getting the chairmanship.
It's not immediately clear who will lead the oversight committee in the next Congress that begins in January. Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-N.Y.) would be next in line in terms of committee seniority. Towns currently is chairman of the House Government Management, Organization and Procurement Subcommittee.
The committee's leadership on the Republican side is also changing. Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.), the ranking member on the committee, retired from Congress this year. A ranking member has yet to be named. Earlier this year, though, Davis recommended Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) as a possible new ranking committee member.