A stunner to say the least but not completely unexpected:
California Rep. Henry A. Waxman on Thursday officially dethroned longtime Energy and Commerce Chairman John Dingell, upending a seniority system that has governed Democratic politics in the House for decades.
In a secret ballot vote in the Cannon Caucus Room, House Democrats ratified an earlier decision by the Steering and Policy Committee to replace the 82-year-old Dingell with his 69-year-old rival. The vote was 137-122 in favor of Waxman.
The ascension of Waxman, a wily environmentalist, recasts a committee that Dingell has chaired since 1981 with an eye toward protecting the domestic auto industry in his native Michigan. The Energy and Commerce Committee has principal jurisdiction over many of President-elect Barack Obama's top legislative priorities, including energy, the environment and health care.
And away we go. The single strangest looking dude in Congress is going to push through hardcore environmental regulations on every industry. It shows just how much Congress thinks of the auto industry by snubbing them today in the bailout request and then smacking their main man and biggest advocate in a major committee who represented that industry.
It's a new world folks and one that will be run by the likes of Rep. Henry Waxman. Lord help us.
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