House appropriations leaders make subcommittee assignments

Leaders of the House Appropriations Committee announced their subcommittee rosters for the 119th Congress this week, showing more continuity than change in subcommittees affecting the Department of Energy.

There are some additions and departures, but leaders for the appropriations subcommittees that write the first drafts of annual spending bills that affect DOE nuclear programs will remain the same, according to Wednesday press releases from Reps. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) and Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), respectively the chair and ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee. 

For Republicans, there is one new member on the defense subcommittee: Rep. David Valadao (R-Calif.). 

Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Calif.) will remain the chair of the defense subcommittee, according to Cole’s press release. Former Rep. Mike Garcia (R-Calif.), a subcommittee member last session, has left Congress. The defense subcommittee writes the budget for Pentagon weapons programs that carry and deliver nuclear weapons.

On the energy and water appropriations subcommittee, which controls the budget for the entire Department of Energy, Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.), whose district abuts Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Y-12 National Security Complex, will remain the chair. Fleischmann will also remain on the defense subcommittee.

Rep. Michael Cloud (R-Texas), who is new to the subcommittee, will be the energy and water vice chair. Reps. Scott Franklin (R-Fla.) and Celeste Maloy (R-Utah) are also new to the subcommittee.

Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.), whose district abuts the Hanford plant, will remain on the energy and water subcommittee.

Leaving energy and water are Garcia and Reps. Julia Letlow (R-La.) and Stephanie Bice (R-Okla.), who remain in the 119th Congress but will no longer serve on the subcommittee.

Meanwhile, for the Democrats, Rep. Susie Lee (D-Nev.) will stay on the House appropriations energy and water subcommittee, but also join defense, according to a proposed roster published Wednesday by DeLauro, the ranking appropriations Democrat.

On the energy and water subcommittee, Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) would remain the ranking member. Kaptur also would stay on the defense subcommittee.

New to energy and water for Democrats are Reps. James Clyburn (D-S.C.), Mike Levin (D-Calif.) and Frank Mrvan (D-Ind.). 

Reps. Mike Quigley (D-Ill.) and Joe Morelle (D-N.Y.) will no longer be on the subcommittee, and ex-Rep. Derek Kilmer (D-Wash.), formerly on the subcommittee, is no longer a member of Congress.

On the defense subcommittee, Morelle would be the only new member. Kilmer and former Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-Md.), who both served on the subcommittee in the last session have left Congress.

Democrat subcommittee members “must be formally approved by the House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee and the House Democratic Caucus,” DeLauro said in the release.