Speaker-designate John Boehner (R-Ohio) on Monday announced he is backing Rep. Jeff Flake to serve on the Appropriations Committee in the 112th Congress.
Flake, an anti-earmark crusader, has tried to secure a slot on the Appropriations panel for years. Boehner’s support for Flake, which all but assures the Arizona Republican will get a seat on the panel, comes just a few weeks after Republicans extended their across-the-board ban on earmarks.
Boehner urged members of the Republican Steering Committee to join him in supporting Flake.
“The Appropriations Committee will be the scene of much action in the next Congress as we work to implement the Pledge to America, which calls for cutting spending to pre-‘stimulus’ levels, repealing the job-killing health care law, prohibiting all taxpayer funding of abortion, and bringing greater scrutiny to the broken spending process in Washington,” Boehner said in a statement. “These priorities are among the priorities of the American people, and the Republicans currently serving on the Appropriations Committee are going to need all the additional help they can get in working to ensure the priorities of the people are met.”
Lois Lerner, director of exempt organizations for the IRS, arrives for a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing on the investigation of the IRS' targeting of political groups. Lerner invoked her Fifth Amendment right to not testify and caused a protest from some committee members when she offered an opening statement and engaged in dialogue with members before invoking the right.
Roll Call has launched a new feature, Hill Navigator, to advise congressional staffers and would-be staffers on how to manage workplace issues on Capitol Hill. Please send us your questions — anything from office etiquette, to handling awkward moments, to what happens when the work life gets too personal. Submissions will be treated anonymously.
