Dingell to the Junk Yard: Henry Waxman Deposes John Dingell on House Energy Committee

Feel the balance of power shifting in the American energy debate? Bye bye MIchigan, hello California: The House Democrats have finally cleared some old spare parts out of the way in anticipation of President Obama's agenda. Henry Waxman, a reliably progressive and sometimes pleasingly combative liberal from California has deposed John Dingell of Michigan at the helm of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. The Committee will play a major role in several key issues on Obama's to-do list: climate change, alternative energy development, retooling the American auto industry, and health care reform.

Rep. Dingell's three-decade reign has been characterized by his reliable support for the backward-looking lobbying efforts of the very auto industry giants who jetted in to DC with their hands out yesterday. It's not a stretch to say that the Big 3's woes, and their woeful appearance yesterday seeking a taxpayer handout, may have loomed large in Democrats' decision today to consign Dingell to the junkyard.

Waxman's work on the House Homeland Security Committee stands in stark contrast to stuffed-shirt Joe Lieberman's snoozy tenure on the Senate side. Waxman has aggressively gone after the Bush administration, while Joe the Senator has been running out the clock. With Waxman in place, several key aspects of Obama's agenda look to sail a little more smoothly (one wonders if the hand of Rahm Emanuel might not be at work behind the scenes on this).

Comments

[TiredoftheMSM]

I am so glad for this. Dingell didn't lift a finger for Barack in Michigan. Not one finger. And Debbie Dingell was the one responsible for the primary fiasco. Don't let the door hit you where the good lord split you

[texasnative3]

In response to fredfep - Dingell may be a "loyal" Democrat, but he is a one-note johnnie when it came to doing the bidding of the "Big 3" Detroit automakers.

[texasnative3]

John Dingell aided and abetted the incompetent leaders of the Detroit automakers for decades. Whenever legislation was proposed that would have compelled the automakers to move into the future (better gas mileage, less environmental impact), Dingell would do his all to block it.

[Rex11]

Ciao, Dingell!!!

Hello Waxman!!! One of the only Dems in the House whose bite is as big as his bite.

Now, lets get rid of some more of those other backward thinking members of the Senate and the House.

[guitrman]

A new broom sweeps clean. Keep sweeping.

[skaterdon66]

November 20, 2008
Rangel: Pelosi Played Role in Dingell's Defeat
@ 11:21 am by Hill Staff
Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.) accused House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of having a role in Thursday's defeat of Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.) by Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) for control of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

"I assume that not playing a role is playing a role," Rangel, Chairman of the House Committee on Ways and Means, told the Washington Post after the Democratic Caucus voted to oust Dingell.

"It's just been buried," Rangel said of the long-standing principle of seniority for Democratic leadership in the House. Rangel had backed Dingell's bid to retain his chairmanship.

[Pete Cenedella - Huffpost Blogger]

...which reminds me, is here anyone who wants to oust Rangel? LOL

[nycdave]

Shhh! Not yet! The new congressman from my hometown, (Dan Maffei, NY-25) worked for Rangel and I'd like to see him get a coveted Freshman assignment to Ways & Means. Syracuse could sure use a congressman who can get them some stimulus!

[mymic1]

hey charlie a little scared are ya???


listen the old school way of doin' things is on the way out. this is change i can believe in and apparently you don't.
the guy was in the hip pockets of detroit and enabling them to be do nothing welfare queens.
the asians have been cleaning our clocks for decades now.
remember when Hyundai was just a oversized roller skate? toyota was a simple foreign import? honda was more famous for cycles than cars?
imagine what could have been produced with the same energy used to fight progress.
and another thingseniority is in the handsof the voter in the end your job is not to see how long you can stay in office, its to nake the office effective.
good riddance.

[3fingerbrown]

I'm put off by the word "accused" in the above report, as though the Speaker was guilty of impropriety by playing a role in a committee reassignment. Of course she played a role. It's the Speaker's job to involve herself in such matters. If such a shakeup were to occur without the Speaker's assent, whether passive or active, she'd be negligent in her duties.

[camper65]

I have very mixed feelings about this, primarily because I keep hearing an old quotation: "Better the fool you know than the fool you don't". Dingell's resentment might not be kept private. And he has a LOT of friends on the Hill.

[skaterdon66]

Kevin Martin, executive director of the group Peace Action, said that although Obama had campaigned as an agent of change, the president-elect is "a fairly centrist guy" who appears to be choosing from the Democratic foreign policy establishment -- "and nobody from outside it."

"So, in the short term, we're going to be disappointed," he said. "They may turn out to be all pro-war, or at least people who were pro-war in the beginning."

[Pete Cenedella - Huffpost Blogger]

1. Did you mean to post this comment here? This post was about the House of Representatives and domestic policy.
2. Since you brought it up: I hate war as much as Kevin Martin, and certainly have always opposed the Iraq war. But like Obama, I also think the Taliban and al Qaeda need to be deligitimized, disarmed, and destroyed as a force in the world. Would you walk away from Afghanistan in the name of peace? Because there won't be any peace in the lives of the girls and women who seek an education, or anyone who won't comply with the Taliban's fundamentalist extremism. These are the folks who killed young girls for going against the Qaran by attending school. If there ever was a deserving target of violence, t's the Taliban. And the Taliban will be happy to host al Qaeda ops with their peaceful blend of 15th century religion and 21st century post-treaty black market nuclear adventurism. So I'm not sure what type of peace you're advocating, but if it involves pretending that armed force isn't part of the needed mix in Afghanistan, I have to part ways with you.

[Vladdycat]

If the UN considers ridding the world of Taliban extremism job #1, let everyone contribute to that end. The US should not engage in Afghanistan militarily alone, The problem is complex, and we have rushed into too many wars with good intentions, to fail miserably.

[tbone99]

Wahoo! Dingells out, maybe we won't have to relive the last thirty years again as brought to us by the automakers.

[fredfep]

So, let me get this straight. Liebermann, a turncoat who sat by as Obama was called a Marxist terrorist, who called him names himself, he is ok, can keep anything important. But Dingell, loyal for a hundred years, this is great to dump him?

Oh, I see......

All Waxman ever does is get people to promise to be better, which they never do.

[JoanE]

Glad to hear this. I'm a constituent of Waxman's and a fan of the hearings that made him "The Mustache of Justice" -- one of the few Dems who did anything to hold Bushco accountable. I look forward to what he'll do for energy policy. If Rahm Emanuel replaced Dingell with Waxman, that allays my fears about Emmanuel. In the past he helped elect Dems who were just barely Democrats. While he helped build Dem numbers, I see him as partly responsible for the strategy of timidity that drove the Netroots crazy over the last 8 years. I'm thrilled if Emmanuel is now using his skills to bring real change.

[andyg]

He never did anything, but grandstand when a camera was in view.