WASHINGTON — Less than a year after joining the powerful House Appropriations Committee, U.S. Rep. Jo Bonner, R-Mobile, is moving up the ladder. At the same time, Rep. Artur Davis, D-Birmingham, is stepping back from some responsibilities as he weighs a run for governor.
Under new appropriations subcommittee assignments for the 111th Congress announced Monday, Bonner will join the Commerce, Justice and Science subcommittee along with the Labor, Health and Human Services panel. The assignments were detailed in a release from Rep. Jerry Lewis of California, the top Republican on the full committee.
In exchange, Bonner is giving up his seats on the Financial Services and Legislative Branch appropriations subcommittees. The shift places the Coastal Alabama congressman on panels that steer funding for justice, science, labor and health programs — a portfolio with direct reach into Gulf Coast priorities.
Bonner, first elected to represent Alabama’s 1st Congressional District in 2003, follows in the footsteps of predecessors Sonny Callahan and Jack Edwards, both of whom built influence on the Appropriations Committee. His climb comes as Davis, a rising Democratic voice from Birmingham, recalibrates his own workload amid speculation about a 2010 gubernatorial bid.
The reshuffling illustrates how seniority and party dynamics on Capitol Hill continually redraw which members hold the levers of federal spending for their home regions.