House Energy & Commerce Committee Chairman
Fred Upton (R-Mich.) Thursday announced his picks for chairs of subcommittees.
Upton indicated he would enlist those chairs in an
army of budget-cutters. "Every member and every subcommittee will be on
the frontlines as we take on federal agencies -- EPA, HHS, DOE, FCC, you name
it -- to identify wasteful programs and target areas to immediately cut
spending," he said in announcing the new chairs.
Greg Walden (R-Ore.) will head the Communications
Subcommittee, but that cat had already been let out of the bag by Waldenhimself in a tweeted tip-off (in Morse code, no less). Lee Terry of Nebraska will be vice chair.
Joe Barton (R-Tex.), who Upton beat out for the
chairmanship of the committee, was named chairman emeritus, and Sue Myrick
(R-N.C.) vice chair.
Also confirmed was Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.) as head
of the Oversight subcommittee, which would take the lead on any investigations
of the FCC, and Mary Bono Mack (R-Calif.) as head of the Commerce subcommittee.
Upton said he would announce the full makeup of the subcommittees at a
later date. He has pledged vigorous oversight, including of the FCC, which he
has loudly criticized for planning a vote on network neutrality regs for next
week (Dec. 21).
