Congressional Republicans Begin Filling Committee Leadership Posts

As each party begins selecting who will be the chairs and ranking members of key committees, two announcements from congressional Republicans caught our attention for their relevance to disability supports:

U.S. Senator Richard Burr (R-NC) is reportedly negotiating with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) for a leadership role on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, which oversees labor issues that affect our members as employers. Whether this position will be as chair or ranking member of the HELP Committee will depend on the outcome of the Senate run-off election in Georgia, which will determine which party has control of the Senate. Additionally, because of controversy surrounding Senator Burr’s investments earlier this year, it is possible that Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) will get the position instead.

House Republicans picked U.S. Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) to be the Ranking Member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, which oversees Medicaid, the program that funds the majority of disability supports in the US. McMorris Rodgers will be the first woman to hold the position. ANCOR has a longstanding relationship with the office of Representative McMorris Rodgers, and appreciate her championing key legislative issues by bringing to bear her experience as the mother of a son with an intellectual / developmental disability and her prior party leadership experience.