An three-way internal Republican Party battle is underway for the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee gavel in the 114th Congress.
The current chairman, Rep. Darrell Issa of California, is stepping down after two terms.
Three committee Republicans are seeking the position: Rep. Mike Turner of Ohio, Rep. Jason Chaffetz of Utah, and Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio.
All three members are furiously lobbying members of the House Republican Steering Committee, which will take up the matter next week.
In the end, all of the lobbying of individual members may not matter that much. The Steering panel is dominated by loyal supporters of House Speaker John Boehner, and it is widely understood that Boehner will be selecting the new chairman. But thus far, the speaker has given no indication who he will choose, even to his closest allies,
Politico reported Thursday.
The chairmanship of Oversight and Government Reform and Oversight Committee is one of the most high-profile powerful positions in the House of Representatives. The new chairman is almost certain to be transformed into the public face of House GOP efforts to hold the Obama administration accountable on a wide array of subjects ranging from the IRS targeting of conservatives to a myriad of problems with Obamacare and the HealthCare.gov website.
During his tenure as chairman, Issa won plaudits from Republicans for the committee’s work in areas like exposing the IRS targeting scandal and investigating the Sept. 11, 2012, terrorist attack that killed four Americans in Benghazi, Libya. But Issa also became a lightning rod for criticism after cutting off the microphone of the committee’s ranking Democrat, Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland, earlier this year.
Even before that, Issa’s investigative work drew praise from conservatives and scorn from liberal-leaning media outlets like
The Washington Post.
Republican insiders are said to believe that Chaffetz, who has had a high profile in oversight, has a slight edge over Turner, and that Jordan is a longshot at this point. Chaffetz has been endorsed by the National Review, while Jordan has the support of The Wall Street Journal. Issa has indicated support for Jordan, with aides touting his tenacious reputation as an investigator.
Both Chaffetz and Turner, by contrast, have sought to distance themselves from Issa in lobbying fellow Republicans, according to Politico.
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