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Ryan’s Appropriations Committee seat in danger
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U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan (D-17)
YOUNGSTOWN
Though a decision is not final, it appears that U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan is in serious jeopardy of losing his seat on the powerful House Appropriations Committee.
Ryan, of Niles, D-17th, ranks 30th in seniority among the current 37 Democratic members of the committee. There are 23 Republican members of the committee, which oversees close to $1 trillion in spending bills.
With Republicans taking over the House next month as a result of the November election, the two political parties will switch the number of members each has on committees.
That means Democrats will lose 16 seats on appropriations.
But that’s not all. Incoming Speaker of the House John Boehner, a Republican, plans to cut the number of seats on House committees by nearly 10 percent, which would be two fewer Democratic spots on appropriations, according to Politico, a national political website.
Ryan will move up the seniority ladder for Democrats on the powerful committee, but an analysis of election results by The Vindicator shows he’ll likely come up short in his quest to remain on appropriations.
There are seven Democrats on appropriations who won’t return to the House in January either through retirement or losing re-election bids.
That moves Ryan to No. 23 among Democrats on the committee next month.
If Boehner’s plan is implemented, Democrats will have only 21 seats on appropriations.
The committee numbers are in negotiation, so nothing is final, said Heather McMahon, Ryan’s spokesman.
“We’re trying to figure it out,” she said of Ryan’s seniority and if he’ll remain on appropriations. “Suffice to say we’re on the bubble.”
Members of Democratic and Republican House leadership are in negotiations on the size of each committee, McMahon said.
She expects a final decision shortly.
Politico specifically mentioned Ryan in a Thursday article as a junior Democrat “in line to get bumped” from influential committees.
It’s almost a definite that Ryan will lose his seat on the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee. Appointed in May, Ryan is the least senior among the 10 Democrats on that subcommittee.
Even if Ryan remains on appropriations, McMahon said it would be “difficult” for him to keep his seat on the defense subcommittee.
Ryan began serving on appropriations in January 2007, the first U.S. House member from the Mahoning Valley to serve on that committee since the late Michael Kirwan, a longtime member who last served on it Jan. 1, 1970.
While on appropriations, Ryan’s district, which includes most of Trumbull County and about half of Mahoning County, has seen earmarks increase four times the amount it received when the congressman wasn’t on the committee.
Ryan’s losing his seat on appropriations would be a blow to the Valley, but not a terrible one under the incoming Republican-controlled House, said Paul Sracic, chairman of the Youngstown State University’s political science department.
“Most of the money from Ryan for his district comes from earmarks,” Sracic said. “He’ll be in the minority with less influence with a Republican pledge to get rid of earmarks.”