BUDGET/HOUSE OF REPS/POLITICAL FIGURES: “Senior House Republicans vote Tuesday [1-9-18] night to replace outgoing House Budget Chairman Diane Black, who’s stepping down to run for Tennessee governor.
Most have their money on Rep. Steve Womack.
Several top Republican lawmakers and aides predicted Monday that the Arkansas Republican, a senior member of the budget panel, would take charge of the committee that oversees topline government spending numbers. Womack enjoys close relationships with GOP leaders, has raised millions of dollars for the GOP’s campaign arm and is gung-ho for reducing mandatory spending — a belief that will win him support with the committee’s fiscal hawks.
But first, the 60-year-old, fourth-term lawmaker will have to beat fellow budget members Rob Woodall of Georgia and Bill Johnson of Ohio to clinch the gavel. Both men have been campaigning for the post promising to bring ‘stability’ to a committee that will soon see its third different chairman in the past year…
Whoever wins, the job of budget chairman won’t be an easy one. President Donald Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell have panned the prospects of tackling entitlement reform or a partisan welfare overhaul in 2018. They’ve also all but ruled out the idea of using budget reconciliation — the fast-tracking tool that lets Republicans avoid a Senate filibuster — to advance partisan agenda items in an election year.”
-Rachel Bade and Sarah Ferris, “Arkansas Rep. Womack likely next House budget chairman,” Politico, Jan. 8, 2018 10:39pm