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Coles Reaches for Appropriations Gavel as House Leadership Churns
by Randy Krehbiel

March 23, 2024

Fourth District Congressman Tom Cole appears to be the favorite to replace Texas’ Kay Granger as chair of the House Appropriations Committee, following Granger’s surprise announcement on Friday that she would resign as soon as the Republican Steering Committee chooses her successor.

Granger, who previously announced her intention not to seek reelection to the House, said she will finish her current term as a member.

“I am the right person to lead the House Appropriations Committee, and I hope my colleagues (think so), too,” Cole said in formally announcing his candidacy on Friday.

Cole is one of the “12 cardinals” — Appropriations subcommittee chairs — who decide how discretionary dollars will be spent. He is also chairman of the House Rules Committee and is considered one of House’s most respected members.

Cole’s becoming Appropriations Committee chairman could set up an interesting situation with 1st District Congressman Kevin Hern.

In just his third term, Hern has done his best to flex policy muscle as a member of the Budget Committee and as chairman of the Republican Study Committee. Under his direction, the RSC released a budget proposal last week that includes deep spending cuts, tax reductions and lower projected outlays for nondiscretionary programs such as Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare.

The budget proposal is 180 pages long, but getting the most attention is a nonspecific increase in the Social Security retirement age. Hern says not making changes to Social Security and Medicare will result in mandatory across-the-board reductions in less than a decade.

Because around 80% of House Republicans, including four of Oklahoma’s five members, belong to the RSC, its budget proposal is seen as a likely preview of GOP rule should it retain a House majority and win control of the Senate and White House.

Hern, in a speech to the [2] Ripon Societylast week, said the RSC budget is “an aggressive roadmap” to a balanced budget but may not be “the roadmap.”

As an unsuccessful candidate for speaker of the House last time around, Hern is likely to be in the mix again should Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s motion to vacate the speaker’s chair lead to current occupant Mike Johnson’s ouster.

Cole and Hern have been on different sides of the recent spending bills that have kept the federal government from shutting down but rankled Republicans who are trying to leverage their party’s narrow majority.

Cole has voted for the bills, Hern against.

In announcing his candidacy for Appropriations Committee chairman, Cole said his goal would be to keep the government functioning while restraining spending. He also noted that the Appropriations Committee now controls only 28% of federal spending.

“If we are going to produce a balanced budget, which I strongly believe we should be striving to do, we should be having serious discussions on how to fund and reform our entitlement programs, which makes up approximately 60% of all spending,” Cole said.

According to Roll Call, one of Cole’s leading rivals for the chairmanship is Alabama’s Robert Aderholt, an Appropriations cardinal who voted against Friday’s spending bill because of provisions insisted upon by the Democrat-led Senate.

Ultimately, more Republicans voted against the budget agreement than for it, which could cause Cole difficulty in winning the chairmanship.

“At the end of the day, I am a budget hawk,” said Cole, also a member of the RSC. “I believe in stretching our budget’s dollars as far as we can, but I also recognize there are critical needs and challenges that must be funded if our great nation is going to be protected, preserved and improved. However, as chairman, I will ensure that, in doing this, we are not wasting and abusing.”

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The Ripon Society is a public policy organization that was founded in 1962 and takes its name from the town where the Republican Party was born in 1854 – Ripon, Wisconsin. One of the main goals of The Ripon Society is to promote the ideas and principles that have made America great and contributed to the GOP’s success. These ideas include keeping our nation secure, keeping taxes low and having a federal government that is smaller, smarter and more accountable to the people.

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