House GOP elects new spending chief

Republicans have elected Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), a prominent negotiator, as the new head of the powerful House Appropriations Committee.

The House GOP conference on Wednesday adopted a unanimous recommendation from the Steering Committee backing Cole for the top spot the night before.

“It’s kind of hard to lose a race when you’re the only guy,” Cole, who ran unopposed for the chairmanship and has been serving on the committee since 2009, told reporters at the time.

Cole announced his bid for the role late last month, shortly after retiring Rep. Kay Granger (R-Texas) said she would step down as chair before finishing the remainder of her final term in Congress. 

Cole had notched backing from the vast majority of the lower chamber’s other GOP spending cardinals, several of whom serve on the Steering Committee, and some conservatives in the weeks leading up the vote. 

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Cole, who had previously served as head of the subcommittee that crafts funding for transportation and housing programs, said one of the first steps will be working “closely with leadership” to figure out a topline for the lower chamber’s 12 annual funding bills. 

“I don’t think it’s going to take forever because we do have the Fiscal Responsibility Act as a kind of general guideline, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see some sniping and negotiating,” Cole said. 

Cole is referring to the spending limits deal brokered between former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and the Biden administration last year. 

However, the agreed-to caps have been fiercely opposed by conservatives who say it doesn’t go far enough to curb annual spending, underlining challenges GOP leadership has faced in getting partisan funding plans across the floor this session with a narrow majority. 

Cole also noted the potential of some movements among spending cardinals on the committee.

“Obviously, there’s always a little bit of musical chairs amongst the cardinals,” he said.

“I’m going to be giving one up and we got to talk [to] my colleagues, and, on the basis of seniority, see who wants to go there.”