Wicker Asks to Keep Chairing Senate Communications Subcommittee
Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., likely will chair the Senate Communications Subcommittee again in 2017. He told us Thursday that, in weighing the choice between Senate Commerce’s Communications and Aviation subcommittee leadership, he chose Communications, which would maintain the subcommittee chairmanship…
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
If your job depends on informed compliance, you need International Trade Today. Delivered every business day and available any time online, only International Trade Today helps you stay current on the increasingly complex international trade regulatory environment.
he held for the past two years and as ranking member earlier. “I’ve requested that, yes,” Wicker said of the Communications Subcommittee. He has the second-highest seniority among Commerce's Senate Republicans, giving him broad sway. Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., chaired the Aviation panel last session but lost her re-election bid. After the election, Wicker wasn't able to immediately say where he would land, citing a need to talk with Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., and many believed last month he might depart Communications and leave an opening for Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., to chair it (see 1612200067). Republican Senate staffers expect formal announcements to come next week, they said. Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, was ranking member and expects no change in this coming session. “I hope so,” Schatz told us Thursday. Leadership is less certain for the House Communications Subcommittee, with former Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., rising to lead the full Commerce Committee. Some believe Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., has the edge to take over (see 1612300029). Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., wouldn't say whether she plans to pursue the ranking member spot she held for many years alongside Walden. “I don’t have any comment on it,” Eshoo told us Thursday when asked about rumors she may not seek the role. Her office also declined comment.