Howie Klein writes that Katie Porter was denied a waiver in order to serve on the financial services committee. There certainly will be plenty to do on the Oversight and Natural Resources committees, especially with post-Trump excesses and the climate initiatives, but she will be missed.
On Thursday evening, I read that Pelosi has pushed her off the committee at the urging on the banksters, the Fed and Wall Street special interests. In a conversation with another member of the committee, an admirer of Porter's, I was told that it was a combination of the Fed and Wall Street that demanded her removal. The member told me that "It is, in fact, a tragedy for that committee to lose someone like her. It’s a staff-run committee, with revolving-door staff... Also taking someone off a committee means they're losing their committee seniority, which is very, very bad karma, since the whole system is built on that."
Hill reporter Sylvan Lane wrote that Pelosi (through the Steering Committee she controls) denied Porter a waiver to serve on 3 committees simultaneously and gave her seats on Oversight and Natural Resources and removed her from Financial Services. "Porter’s departure from the Financial Services panel will likely mean fewer headaches for the bank executives, financial regulators and industry advocates that often appear before the panel.
www.downwithtyranny.com/...
In a Nov. 30 letter to Pelosi, Porter asked to be considered for seats on the Oversight and Reform, Natural Resources, and Financial Services committees — in that order — in the new Congress that began on Jan. 3.
Porter also asked Pelosi to “prioritize” her spot on the Oversight Committee and asked to rejoin the Financial Services Committee on a waiver.
Porter will hold onto her seat on the Oversight Committee and join the Natural Resources Committee this year, the Democratic aides said. Both committees are non-exclusive, meaning a member can serve on several.
"Under House Dem rules, a member is allowed to serve on two non-exclusive committees. Mine are Oversight and Natural Resources. One can ask for a waiver for a third committee. I asked. Others in same situ got waivers. I did not. I play by the rules," Porter said in a tweet.
A senior Democratic aide familiar with the steering committee decision said it was risky for Porter to prioritize spots on other committees while asking for a waiver to retain her spot on Financial Services after Democrats lost seats in the 2020 election. A smaller Democratic majority means Democrats have a smaller ratio of seats per committee.
The senior Democratic aide said Porter was given spots on Oversight and Natural Resources panels per her November request to Pelosi before the steering committee decided who should be granted waivers to join other committees.
thehill.com/...