Jockeying for top Democratic Armed Services panel spot begins
House committee's most senior Democrats were voted out in the election.
The race for the House Armed Services ranking member slot in the next Congress heated up Tuesday, with Reps. Silvestre Reyes, D-Texas, and Adam Smith, D-Wash., announcing they will compete for the top Democratic committee post, left vacant after the midterm elections wiped out the panel's most senior Democrats.
In separate letters to House Democrats, Reyes and Smith both deferred to the more senior Rep. Solomon Ortiz, D-Texas, who has filed for a recount in his tough reelection contest last week. Ortiz had long been considered the likely successor to Armed Services Chairman Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Mo., but he trails his GOP opponent by nearly 800 votes.
Smith declared his interest in the top slot but acknowledged that if Ortiz should win reelection, it would "alter the dynamic of the caucus's choice for the top position on HASC."
Reyes, who is now chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said he believes the caucus should wait until Ortiz's race is resolved before selecting a ranking member. But Reyes also noted that, should Ortiz lose, he would be the most senior Democrat on the committee.
While they recognize the pivotal role the outcome of Ortiz's race plays in the selection of ranking member, Smith and Reyes wasted no time Tuesday touting their years of experience on the committee and their subcommittee leadership posts.
Smith now serves as the chairman of the Air and Land Forces Subcommittee, which is arguably the panel's most important subcommittee because of its broad portfolio that includes Army and Air Force research and procurement programs. He previously served as chairman of the Terrorism and Unconventional Threats Subcommittee.
Reyes, meanwhile, noted that he has served as the ranking member of the Strategic Forces Subcommittee. He also stressed that the jurisdictions of the Intelligence and Armed Services panels overlap on key issues such as Afghanistan and terrorism.
Both lawmakers have military installations in their districts, making the Armed Services slot a plum assignment. Smith's district includes the Joint Base Lewis-McChord, an Army/Air Force installation, while Reyes's district includes the Army's Fort Bliss.
Rep. Robert Andrews, D-N.J., is considered another likely contender for the position, although he would have to leapfrog several more senior members of the committee. Andrews is now chairman of the committee's acquisition reform panel.
But the New Jersey Democrat has not yet reached out to lawmakers. His spokesman would say only that he has "been speaking with members of the caucus on a variety of issues."