GOP Steering Committee to Select New House Approps Chair

The House Republican Steering Committee will meet today to choose a new Chair of the House Appropriations Committee. Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK), Chair of the Transportation-HUD (T-HUD) Subcommittee, is widely viewed as the favorite to replace outgoing Chair Kay Granger (R-TX). Notably, Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-AL), Chair of the Labor-HHS-Education Subcommittee, wrote a letter requesting that the process be delayed in order to deliberate broader changes to the appropriations process for fiscal year (FY) 2025. However, it is not clear whether Rep. Aderholt will formally declare a bid for the gavel during today’s meeting. Assuming Rep. Cole is appointed chair, the Steering Committee will also need to appoint a new T-HUD Subcommittee “cardinal,” as well as a new head of the House Rules Committee where Rep. Cole currently serves as chair.

• TODAY IN CONGRESS. House lawmakers will gavel in for consideration of 14 bills under suspension of the rules, including a pair of bipartisan bills that would reauthorize federal workforce development (H.R. 6655) and missing and exploited children’s programs (S. 2051). The House will also consider a pair of bills out of the Natural Resources Committee that would expand access to recreational activities on federal land and water (H.R. 6492), as well as provide funding for storm risk management projects that use sand from the coastal barrier system to replenish other beaches (H.R. 524). Meanwhile, the Senate will continue churning through pending judicial nominations with a final up-or-down vote on Susan Bazis’s nomination to be a District Judge for the District of Nebraska.