House Democrats, still smarting from their Election Day losses, are now faced with a divisive internal fight to lead a key committee.
That’s because Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) formally announced his intent to run for ranking member of the House Natural Resources Committee on Wednesday. That bid would require him to go up against the panel’s current top Democrat, Rep. Raúl Grijalva of Arizona, who returned to Washington this week after an extended absence — he announced in April he was getting treatment for lung cancer.
If Huffman goes through with his plans, it will mark the first time in nearly 16 years that a member has sought to take another colleague’s committee leadership position and bring it to a vote. That last happened in 2008, when then-Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) wrested the Energy and Commerce gavel from then-Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.), who had been serving as the top Democrat on the panel since 1981.
Huffman is busy preparing. He has launched a whip operation ahead of an internal vote in December, and he and his allies are pointing out that he has widely outperformed Grijalva when it comes to fundraising and dues-paying.
