Mica waiting for leadership election to address Transportation Committee chairmanship

Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.) told reporters Tuesday that he is waiting for House Republicans to formally elect their leadership before he discusses the possibility of remaining chairman of the House Transportation Committee.

Speaking with reporters on lawmakers' first day back in the Capitol since last Tuesday's elections, Mica said he did not expect anything to come of his conversations with House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) about remaining atop the panel until Boehner and other Republican leaders are formally put in place on Wednesday.

"I've talked to him. You have to have the election first," Mica said after the House approved legislation addressing airline emissions. 

Mica was reelected to an 11th term in Congress in last week's election. He has been chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee since 2010, but he is facing term limits for committee chairmen set by House Republicans when they took control of the lower chamber.

The rules call for lawmakers to step down after six years as ranking member or chairman of a particular committee, unless they are given a waiver by leadership.  

The lawmaker who has been widely expected to replace Mica atop the transportation panel, Rep. Bill Shuster (R-Pa.), has formally announced his candidacy and sounded notes that he is expecting to be chairman.

Mica said Tuesday that the transportation committee chairman issue "should be over by Thursday."

He said of Boehner: "He'll have to decide what he's going to do, and then I'll have to decide what I'm going to do."

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