Scramble begins for top GOP post on Armed Services Committee
At least three lawmakers have expressed interest in the ranking member spot Rep. John McHugh will vacate if he is confirmed as the Army secretary.
The race is on for the top Republican slot on the House Armed Services Committee that is expected to be vacated by Rep. John McHugh, R-N.Y., whom President Obama has nominated to become Army secretary.
Only a few hours after Obama announced his decision to name McHugh to the Army's top civilian post, House Education and Labor ranking member Howard (Buck) McKeon of California and Rep. Roscoe Bartlett, R-Md. -- both senior members of the Armed Services panel -- said they would seek to succeed McHugh.
"The coming years are poised for tough challenges for our men and women in uniform and I stand ready to lead as a strong voice for Republicans," McKeon said in a statement Tuesday. "I'm looking forward to discussing my bid in the coming days with my fellow Republican colleagues."
Bartlett, who is ranking member of the Armed Services Air and Land Subcommittee and is just ahead of McKeon in seniority, announced his intention of seeking the seat a few hours earlier.
"With an ongoing war against terrorism on two fronts in Iraq and Afghanistan and the imminent beginning of markup of the annual defense authorization bill, I have great confidence that the House Republican Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, and my colleagues will recognize the importance of ensuring continuity and pay close attention to my 17 years on the House Armed Services Committee," Bartlett said in his statement.
At least one other senior Republican on the committee, Rep. Mac Thornberry of Texas, has expressed interest in replacing McHugh.
A Thornberry spokesman said Tuesday night that the lawmaker -- who ranks just after McKeon and Bartlett in seniority on the committee -- already had called Republican steering committee members and had spoken with party leaders.
The spokesman said it is not something "we fight on the front page of the paper," but added, "He is definitely in [the contest]."
Like Bartlett, Thornberry was beaten out by McHugh for the committee leadership post last year.
McKeon, an avid fundraiser and close Boehner ally, would have to give up his post as the Education and Labor Committee's ranking member.
McKeon is in his ninth term from California's 25th District, which has several large military installations, including the sprawling Fort Irwin National Training Center and the China Lake Naval Air Weapons Station.
Bartlett, also in his ninth term, served in the previous Congress as ranking member of the Armed Services Seapower Subcommittee, while Thornberry, in his eighth term, comes from a north Texas district that is home to a Bell Helicopter V-22 plant. Thornberry served in the previous Congress as ranking member of the Armed Services Terrorism Subcommittee.