WASHINGTON, D.C.– Ohio Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur is officially running to become the next chair of the powerful House Appropriations Committee.
- Kaptur running to be second-ever chairwoman of committee
- Appropriations oversee $1.3+ trillion of spending
- Kaptur will face direct challenge from Connecticut lawmaker
Kaptur, a Democrat who represents the 9th District, is both the longest-serving woman in the history of the U.S. House — currently in her 36th year — and the longest-serving member of the Appropriations Committee.
In an interview with Spectrum Washington reporter Taylor Popielarz on Friday, Kaptur said she believes those two titles more than qualify her to chair the committee that is responsible for over $1.3 trillion of federal spending.
“I made my desire to compete known to members of our caucus, so I’m going around and talking with them,” Kaptur said. “I think my breadth of knowledge is unmatched, and, in addition to that, I feel an obligation to my region.”
Kaptur’s decision comes less than one week after current Chairwoman Rep. Nita Lowey, a longtime New York Democrat, announced she would be retiring from Congress at the end of the current session.
Lowey is the first-ever woman to chair the Appropriations Committee.
Back in 2012, she beat Kaptur out to become the committee’s top Democrat — even though Kaptur had been serving longer — and was named chairwoman in January, once Democrats gained back the majority in the House.
Kaptur is now seen as a frontrunner to replace Lowey, along with Connecticut Democrat Rosa DeLauro, who is also a longtime member of the committee and a close ally of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Pelosi leads the committee that will elect the next chair if Democrats stay in the majority in 2020.
Asked if she is worried that Pelosi’s close relationship with DeLauro may impact her chances of becoming chair, Kaptur expressed both doubt and hope.
“Well, of course, you never know,” Kaptur said. “But before I actually placed my name forward and let our members know, I did place several calls to [Pelosi]. She finally did call me back on the very day I called — and she was traveling around the country — but I wanted to sort of clear it with her so that there were no surprises. And she was very, I would say, fair, and I hope she will remain that way throughout the process.”
If Kaptur were to be elected chair, she said she may also try to keep her current position as the first-ever chairwoman of the energy and water subcommittee, because she does a lot of work that is relevant to Ohio in that role and previous committee chairs have kept a subcommittee for themselves.