Four Michiganders playing key roles in Congress

Three members of the Michigan congressional delegation have been getting a lot of face time on national television due to their weighty positions on Capitol Hill.

Those would be House Republicans Dave Camp, chair of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee; Fred Upton, chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee; and Mike Rogers, chair of the House Intelligence Committee.

Camp and Upton were key figures in last week’s House hearings where Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius was verbally pummeled for the atrocious rollout of the Obamacare online health exchanges.

Dennis Lennox, a columnist for our sister paper, the Mount Pleasant Morning Sun, wrote this week that Upton of St. Joseph “whose southwest Michigan constituency is closer both culturally and geographically to Chicagoland than most of Michigan,” attracted coverage from major news outlets after the lengthy grilling of Sebelius by his committee.

“Upton was even a featured guest on the Fox News Channel’s popular ‘Fox and Friends’ morning show,” Lennox noted in his piece. “The interview was exceptionally friendly --
the co-hosts were so chummy with him that he was addressed as ‘Fred’ instead of the ubiquitous ‘Congressman’ or ‘Mr. Chairman.’
“The right’s adoration of Upton must have surely driven longtime foe Jack Hoogendyk, the ex-state legislator, 2008 GOP nominee for Senate against (Carl) Levin and tea party leader, mad as he’s tried for years to strip the party’s renomination from the pragmatic Upton.”

A fourth House Republican from Michigan who is also having an impact, according to Lennox, is Candice Miller. As chair of the relatively obscure House Administration Committee, the Harrison Township lawmaker has cut $400 million from the House operating budget. In her role as chair of a homeland security subcommittee, Miller will play a major role in shaping the next round of security measures at the U.S. southern border.

Lennox concluded:

“The amount of power exercised in Congress at the moment by Michiganders is incredible, especially when one considers that the Wolverine State has lost considerable population – to say nothing of its economic might – in recent decades.“From the Internal Revenue Service’s targeting of tea party groups to Obamacare and even matters of national security, a Michigander has been front and center in the national discourse.”

Lennox, a Republican activist, did not include the Democrat in the Michigan delegation who may have a greater impact in the coming months than nearly anyone on Capitol Hill.

Sen. Debbie Stabenow finds herself in the enviable position of being the only member of Congress to serve on both House-Senate conference committees that got down to work last week. One panel will hammer out a bipartisan budget blueprint; the other will cobble together a compromise farm bill that melds the House and Senate versions.

Both conference committees will deal with controversial spending issues as the farm bill would overhaul agricultural subsidies and (if the House version prevails) would cut $40 billion from the food stamp program over 10 years.

As chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee, Stabenow has worked well with colleagues across the partisan aisle, which probably emerged as a key factor when she was appointed to both conference committees.

Roll Call, in a story highlighting Stabenow’s status, quoted Senate Budget Committee Chair Patty Murray: “(Stabenow) is an incredibly hard worker who understands agriculture and budget issues inside and out and knows how to bring both parties together to get something done.”

Roll Call’s Niels Lesniewskialso caught up with the top-ranking Republican on the Agriculture Committee, Sen. Thad Cochran.

Here’s how a portion of that conversation went:

“‘She’s a very busy senator,’ the affable Mississippi Republican said with a laugh, adding that Stabenow’s seats on both panels could also be a benefit to his cause.

“‘I think it would be, yes. You know, she has a position of responsibility for budget provisions, and I think her influence in both capacities will help us get a bill passed,’ Cochran said.”