Two GOP freshmen picked for Ways and Means

Two incoming freshman Republican House members won spots on the powerful House Ways and Means Committee on Thursday. 

Reps-elect Rick Berg (R-N.D.) and Diane Black (R-Tenn.) were appointed to the tax-writing panel. Berg knocked off long-time Democratic Rep. Earl Pomeroy (N.D.) in the midterm elections.  He spent 25 years in the North Dakota House of Representatives before being elected to Congress. 

Black, who won the seat vacated by retiring Rep. Bart Gordon, served in the Tennessee state Senate and became the first woman to lead the Senate Republican Caucus. 

The House Republican Steering Committee met all day Thursday to decide the GOP rosters for A-list committees, including Ways and Means.

Reps. Vern Buchanan (Fla.), Jim Gerlach (Pa.), Tom Price (Ga.), Adrian Smith (Neb.), Lynn Jenkins (Kan.), Chris Lee (N.Y.), Erik Paulsen (Minn.) and Aaron Schock (Ill.) also were selected to sit on the Ways and Means panel.