Democrats await key decisions on House Appropriations seats – Roll Call

House Ways and Means is keeping the same split it had last Congress, which means 25 seats for Republicans in the majority and 18 spots for Democrats now in the minority. Three Democrats on the panel didn’t seek reelection, so Democrats are left with 22 returning committee members.

After Pennsylvania Rep. Brendan F. Boyle took over as the top Democrat on the Budget Committee this year, he’s expected to step off Ways and Means but continue accruing seniority, which would account for one lost seat.

Democrats are expected to decide the remaining three exits based on seniority, but keep any members booted off involved in tax, trade and other issues before Ways and Means. A seniority-based decision would mean Jimmy Gomez of California and Steven Horsford of Nevada, along with Virgin Islands Del. Stacey Plaskett, would likely lose their spots.

Gomez and Horsford joined the panel in the same year as other Democrats, but have less seniority based on when they were elected to the House. Ways and Means includes four other California Democrats but no other lawmakers from Nevada.

Plaskett was the most recent Democratic addition to Ways and Means. Democrats tapped her for the seat in late 2020, and she touted her addition as the first delegate from a territory to be placed on the coveted panel. At the time, Plaskett pointed to the committee’s work on a range of issues, including the “rum cover over” that funnels rum tax revenue to the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.