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Shimkus seeks to position himself while defusing tensions in energy panel race
Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.) has sought to defuse tensions while also trying to position himself in a four-way race for the chairmanship of the Energy and Commerce panel in the next Congress.
“I think there’s a perception that there’s some hard feelings and some tough campaigning,” Shimkus said Wednesday. “It’s like a primary, where you have friends who are running. You’re 80 percent in agreement on most issues, you probably know each other, you’ve probably helped each other in the past and now you’ve got to weed the list down to run.”
Critics have used opposition research pointing to some of his past votes that some GOP sources charge was orchestrated by Energy and Commerce ranking member Joe Barton (R-Texas). Barton has denied this.
Barton is seeking a term-limit waiver, while also arguing House GOP rules are ambiguous enough that he does not even need one to serve another two-year term as chairman. Senior House Republican aides have readily told reporters that Barton needs a waiver and will not get one. They cite tensions between staff on his committee and in the leadership ranks as well as Barton's gaffe in apologizing to BP at a Gulf of Mexico oil-spill hearing this summer.
Shimkus and Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.) — who is also running for the chairmanship — have backed Barton’s bid to seek a waiver, while still aiming to market themselves in the meantime if he does not get one.
Both signed onto a letter Wednesday with several other House Republicans on the panel supporting Barton’s effort. Upton’s name was conspicuously absent.
“The letter is to say we’ll all be friends. There’s always unity after tough primaries,” Shimkus later told reporters in the Capitol.
Shimkus said he believes House GOP rules should allow Barton another term.
"I'm a six and six guy," Shimkus said, referring to the Senate GOP rule clarifying that six years as ranking member in addition to six years as chairman of a panel is allowed. House Republican leaders believe, though, that the caucus rule limits a member to serve no more than six years as head Republican on a panel, regardless of whether it’s as chairman or ranking member.
"We’re setting a precedent that I don’t think is the right precedent to set," Shimkus said. "One is I think the rule is vague, and two, who’s going to be a ranking member of a committee any more if we go back in the minority? Who would do it? If that’s counted?"
But Shimkus’s office also issued a press statement after the letter went out to clear up any misperceptions that he was pulling out of the race.
“I’ve never been out,” he told reporters. “Joe and I have always said … if Joe was out, I would be in.”
Shimkus is handing out a “brochure” to House GOP leaders and other colleagues that includes his conservative voting scorecard, biography and other tidbits. He gave a few reporters a glance at a few of the pages — it looked like a professional resume package, complete with stills of him talking on the House floor, as captured by C-SPAN.
“I tell them who I am, I give them a little brochure, I ask them to give me a fair look and I think when you do that, things work out,” he said.
While Upton for the most part is laying low and seemingly going out of his way not to talk to reporters, Barton, Shimkus and Stearns all have emphasized to the media that they are not running against the others so much as touting themselves.
“I’m running on my issues and my positions and I’m not getting into that other stuff. That’s for other people to do,” Shimkus said. “Here’s my brochure, there’s nothing about anybody other than me.”
