Angling for open Appropriations seats set to ratchet up

WASHINGTON — A bumper crop of lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are attempting to secure open slots on the House and Senate Appropriations committees, coveted perches that will be in the center of the legislative action in the 119th Congress as part two of the Trump era begins.

If House Republicans retain the same margins from this Congress, there would be four vacant positions on their side of the dais, and six open seats for Democrats following retirements and electoral defeats.

Over in the Senate, it’s not clear what committee margin Republicans will go with as they move back into the majority, though there will be at least one opening for Republicans, and likely more. With one Democrat and two independents who are aligned with the Democrats leaving the committee, it is also likely that there will be room for at least one new Democrat.

House Republicans

Republicans have four open seats on the House Appropriations Committee following the retirements of former Chairwoman Kay Granger, R-Texas, and Jake LaTurner, R-Kan., and losses by Reps. Mike Garcia, R-Calif., and Jerry Carl, R-Ala.

Rep. Dale Strong, R-Ala., is eyeing a slot on the committee, sources familiar with his plans say. Strong, who was first elected in 2022, represents a northern Alabama district with a federal footprint including the Army’s Redstone Arsenal and NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center.

Alabama has had at least two seats on the House Appropriations Committee for each Congress since 1993, with the exception of the 117th Congress. With Carl losing his reelection bid after redistricting, Strong is seeking to step into that role.

Missouri Rep. Mark Alford is another Republican hoping for a seat on the committee, a spokesman confirmed. Alford, a former TV morning news anchor, was first elected in 2022 and said in a statement that he wants to bring his on-air experience to the committee.

“Missouri needs an appropriator, and the Appropriations Committee needs a communicator,” Alford said. “As a career communicator on television, I want to bring my talents and my love of storytelling to the committee, helping us to inform Americans about the tough decisions we are making and why.”

He praised current Appropriations Chairman Tom Cole, R-Okla., for “steering the Appropriations Committee in the right direction.”

Another member in the mix, Utah’s Celeste Maloy, served as a senior aide to her predecessor, longtime appropriator Rep. Chris Stewart, before his retirement last year. As an aide, Maloy was Stewart’s chief legal counsel and also handled his appropriations portfolio.

Stewart’s departure reduced Western representation on the committee, which currently has no members from Utah.

“Rep. Maloy is passionate about passing a sound, responsible budget,” a spokesperson said. “She also understands the nuances of the appropriations process, agency funding and community project funding as well as the need for collaboration.”

New York’s Nick LaLota is once again attempting to secure a seat on the committee, as he did last year when Stewart’s seat opened up. North Carolina’s Chuck Edwards was selected instead.

LaLota is arguing that New York has the largest state delegation without representation on the committee, with seven Republicans, according to his pitch memo, reviewed by CQ Roll Call.

The last New York Republican on the committee was James T. Walsh, who retired in 2009. LaLota’s memo points out that Republican representation from the Northeast is needed for balance on the committee, which has six Democrats from the region.

“Without proper Republican oversight, hundreds of billions of dollars flowing into these eight predominantly blue states lack the scrutiny necessary to ensure transparency and responsibility in how taxpayers funds are allocated and spent,” LaLota wrote.

LaLota, a Navy veteran who currently serves on the Armed Services Committee, in his memo trumpeted his work on a deal to unite factions within the party and unlock support for the fiscal 2024 defense authorization act.

A trio of incoming Republican freshmen are also in the mix for a slot on the committee: West Virginia’s Riley Moore, Pennsylvania’s Rob Bresnahan and Indiana’s Mark Messmer.

Moore would be following in the footsteps of his aunt, West Virginia Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, the top Republican on the Senate Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Subcommittee. Moore, currently West Virginia’s state treasurer, confirmed his interest in a statement.

It’s also likely that the Freedom Caucus will once again aim to boost their representation on the committee, though it’s not yet clear which member that would be.

During the last Congress, two new members of the House Freedom Caucus, Georgia’s Andrew Clyde and Texas’ Michael Cloud, joined the committee following former Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s, R-Calif., perilous rise to the gavel.

House Democrats

House Democrats would have six Appropriations seats to fill if the House retains its current 34-27 split on the committee, with the following members leaving Congress: California’s Barbara Lee, Maryland’s C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger, Washington’s Derek Kilmer, Pennsylvania’s Matt Cartwright, Virginia’s Jennifer Wexton and Maryland’s David Trone.

Rep. Greg Stanton, D-Ariz., is seeking a seat on the committee, his communications director Allison Childress confirmed. Stanton, who was first elected to Congress in 2018, is highlighting his experience as the former mayor of Phoenix in his pitch.

Stanton is also pointing out Arizona’s position as both a key battleground state and one that is growing and is highlighting “his strong record on regionally significant issues like border security, drought, transportation infrastructure and our responsibility to Tribal communities,” Childress said.

Another Democratic member from the Southwest, New Mexico’s Teresa Leger Fernández, is angling for a spot, a spokesman confirmed. Leger Fernández was elected in 2020 and would be the first New Mexican on the committee since 2009.

Many other House Democrats are considered potential candidates to be appointed to the committee, sources said, including: Texas’ Veronica Escobar and Vicente Gonzalez; Ohio’s Shontel Brown and Greg Landsman; Indiana’s Frank J. Mrvan; Illinois’ Nikki Budzinski; Pennsylvania’s Madeleine Dean and Maryland’s Glenn F. Ivey.

Rep.-elect Gil Cisneros of California, who previously served in Congress from 2019 to 2021, is also seen as a potential Democratic appropriator.

Cisneros confirmed his interest in a statement. “Joining the Appropriations Committee was a hope of mine when I was first elected in 2018, and I still hope to be a member of the committee one day,” he said.

Senate

There will be fewer open seats in the Senate, though there are likely to be some new appropriators in that chamber as well. The current ratio is 15-14, and in the 116th Congress when the Senate was split 53-47 in favor of Republicans, the ratio was 16-15.

Another option would be to shrink the size of the committee with a 14-12 split, in which there would be no new Democrats added and just one Republican, who would replace President-elect Donald Trump’s choice for secretary of State, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.

Incoming Sen. John Curtis, R-Utah, who is now a member of the House, is interested in the Appropriations Committee, sources say.

Sens. Jon Tester, D-Mont., Joe Manchin III, I-W.Va., and Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., are leaving the committee on the Democratic side, soon to become the minority. Tester lost his reelection campaign and Sinema and Manchin are retiring.

Sen. Alex Padilla of California is considered likely to join the committee, as the state does not have an appropriator following the death of late Sen. Dianne Feinstein. Another Democrat rumored to be interested is Georgia’s Jon Ossoff.