With the official appointment of Rep. C.W. (Bill) Young, R- Fla., as chairman of the Appropriations Committee, Young and Speaker-designate Bob Livingston, R-La., Friday appointed the "cardinals" who will head Appropriations subpanels-but not without a bit of disappointment.
In announcing the subcommittee chairmen, Livingston and Young used full committee seniority to appoint cardinals-a move that Rep. Joseph Knollenberg, R-Mich., said locked him out of the Energy and Water subcommittee chairmanship. Instead, Rep. Ron Packard, R-Calif., who served as whip on Livingston's campaign for speaker, leaves the Military Construction panel to head the Energy and Water subcommittee.
In the past, both subcommittee and full committee seniority have been used, Packard told CongressDaily. Asked if there was a reason to use full committee rather than subcommittee seniority, Livingston simply said, "No."
In addition to Packard, chairmen switching subcommittees are Reps. Charles Taylor, R-N.C., who leaves the District of Columbia panel to head the Legislative Branch subcommittee; Jerry Lewis, R-Calif., leaves the VA-HUD subcommittee to head the National Security panel, which had been chaired by Young; and James Walsh, R-N.Y., leaves the Legislative Branch subcommittee to head the VA-HUD panel. In addition, Rep. David Hobson, R-Ohio, will chair the Military Construction panel and Rep. Ernest Istook, R-Okla., will serve at the helm of the District of Columbia panel. The two had not served as cardinals before.
Knollenberg clearly was not happy with the decision. "I'm not bitter," he said today. "I'm disappointed because I'm at home on that committee and I thought that I could manage it very, very well." He noted that GOP leaders have not strictly followed full panel seniority in the past. Livingston was chosen chairman over others by Speaker Gingrich and, when Republicans did not want to depose Young as National Security subcommittee chairman, they gave Rep. Joseph McDade, R-Pa., the Energy and Water panel.
Knollenberg said his role will expand somewhat, since he will serve as the Appropriations Committee's liaison to the Budget panel. Packard was pleased with the move, saying that water policy "is a national issue, not just [a] California [issue]. ... But I'm also going to look out for California's interest."
Staying at their current subcommittee assignments are Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Joseph Skeen, R- N.M.; Commerce-Justice-State Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Harold Rogers, R-Ky.; Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Sonny Callahan, R-Ala.; Interior Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Ralph Regula, R-Ohio; Labor- HHS Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman John Edward Porter, R- Ill.; Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Frank Wolf, R-Va.; and Treasury-Postal Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Jim Kolbe, R-Ariz.
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