Rep. Shimkus aims to be House Energy and Commerce chairman

By: Paul Merrion November 09, 2010


Crain's) — Vowing to push hard for repeal of health reform, U.S. Rep. John Shimkus, R-Collinsville, went public Tuesday with his long-shot bid to be the next chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.


The Downstate Republican will be the state’s most powerful member of the GOP-controlled House if he can leapfrog several members with more seniority to head the wide-ranging panel, which oversees environmental issues, health, telecommunications and energy.


He raised more than $1.4 million for the party and its candidates in the last election, an important factor when Republican leaders decide as early as next week who will chair Congressional committees next year.


In a letter to all incoming House Republicans, Mr. Shimkus said his bid was “only relevant” if the panel’s senior Republican, Rep. Joe Barton of Texas, does not become chairman. To do so, Mr. Barton would need a waiver of term limits that restrict Republicans to six years as chairman or ranking minority member of a committee.


That waiver is not considered likely. One other more-senior member is likely to chair the panel’s subcommittee on telecommunications, so the real contest is between Rep. Fred Upton of Michigan, who has served in Congress since 1987, and Mr. Shimkus, who was first elected a decade later.


Conservative groups recently started a campaign to block Mr. Upton, citing his voting record going back to the 1990s, according to Politico, a Capitol Hill publication.


Mr. Shimkus is positioning himself as a more conservative and aggressive alternative to Mr. Upton, saying in his letter that if the Democratic-controlled Senate doesn’t go along with health reform repeal, “we can then turn our sights to exhaustive oversight and legislative fixes in this flawed and dangerous law.”

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