GOP anoints freshmen for Appropriations Committee

The House Republican Steering Committee late Thursday chose three freshmen to join the Appropriations Committee, sources confirmed Friday.

Reps.-elect Kevin Yoder (Kan.), Alan Nunnelee (Miss.) and Steve Womack (Ark.) will join the spending panel.

In the past, members had to wait years for the chance to join the spending panel, but House Speaker-designate John Boehner (R-Ohio) has vowed to remake it into the engine of spending cuts.

While the GOP has tapped longtime appropriator and earmark proponent Rep. Hal Rogers (R-Ky.) to chair the panel, it has also given a slot to anti-earmark crusader Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.).

Rep. Tom Graves (Ga.), who was sworn in in June, was also tapped.

“I join the committee with plans to embody America’s call for fiscal responsibility and bring a new brand of appropriator to the table. Where others sought to spend taxpayers’ money, I will save it,” Graves said in a statement.

Reps. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Charlie Dent (R-Pa.), Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.) and Steve Austria (R-Ohio) will also join the panel. 

“Cutting spending, bringing down record deficits, and reining in out-of-control agencies is going to be a difficult task, but I believe the addition of these fine, talented members is a step in the right direction," Rogers said in a statement.