Hastert changes committee chairmen selection process

In an innovative process for selecting committee chairmen, House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., has informed House Republicans that candidates for committee chairmanships will be interviewed by the leadership-dominated Steering Committee, assuming the GOP retains its House majority in Tuesday's elections.

Aspirants "will be given an opportunity to discuss their legislative agenda, oversight agenda, how they intend to organize the committees, and their committee communications strategy," according to a letter Hastert sent GOP members last week.

Those interviews will take place in December - tentatively, the first week of the month, said sources. But the Steering Committee would not meet to select the chairmen until Jan. 4, a day after the House is scheduled to organize for the 107th Congress and select the speaker.

If Republicans retain control, the scheduling could serve Hastert's interests in at least two ways. The Steering Committee sessions could provide him cover to make decisions that inevitably will leave winners and losers. Plus, the delay in selecting chairmen until after the new speaker is in place would make it more difficult for losers to vent their unhappiness in a way that might jeopardize Hastert's prospects of retaining control.

By creating a more open process, the interviewing also could reduce the prospect that seniority would automatically prevail if, for example, a candidate for chairman makes a poor presentation before the Steering Committee. In the past, that committee has included the elected party leaders, representatives of the freshman and sophomore classes, plus the chairmen of the Appropriations, Budget, Rules, and Ways and Means committees.

But Hastert's recent letter left open the possibility of changes in party rules before the new Congress convenes.

Hastert's process - which has been eagerly awaited by candidates for chairmen - is an evolution of party procedure.

During former House Speaker Newt Gingrich's two terms in that post, he dictated the selection of committee chairmen. When Hastert was tapped to take over the job two years ago, the organizing of the 106th Congress was virtually complete. When they were in the majority, Democratic challenges for top committee slots were waged in the full Democratic Caucus.

At the start of the 106th Congress, Minority Leader Dick Gephardt, D-Mo., invited prospective ranking minority members to state their plans to the party's steering committee. The purpose was to "bring in members not for a grilling, but for a symbolic act" that the senior committee members will be responsive to the party, said a Democratic leadership aide. If Democrats take back the majority, the aide added, a similar process will be used.