House Republicans on Thursday voted to select Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) as the next ranking member on the House Armed Services Committee, succeeding Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Texas).
Rogers, who is currently the top Republican on the House Homeland Security Committee, beat out Reps. Mike Turner (R-Ohio), the Strategic Forces Subcommittee ranking member, and Rob Wittman (R-Va.), the Seapower Subcommittee ranking member. Thornberry is retiring from Congress.
“It’s an honor to have just been selected by my colleagues to lead the Republicans as Ranking Member of HASC Republicans,” Rogers wrote in a social media post. “I will work to modernize our military, combat our rising adversaries, and dominate the battlefields of this century.”
Rogers, who will serve alongside HASC Chair Adam Smith (D-Wash.) in the next Congress, previously led the Strategic Forces Subcommittee and has been an ardent supporter of the U.S. Space Force.
His district is also home to Anniston Army Depot and Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base and it is not far from Fort Benning, Ga.
Thornberry released a statement Thursday congratulating Rogers on the announcement.
“The Armed Services Committee is blessed to have a deep bench of engaged, experienced, and knowledgeable Republican Members. Mike Rogers is a great choice to lead them. America’s security, and our military, will face significant challenges in the years ahead. I am confident that Ranking Member Rogers understands these challenges and I look forward to seeing how he and HASC Republicans will work together to meet them,” Thornberry wrote.
Rep. John Katko (R-N.Y.) said Wednesday he would seek the ranking member seat on the Homeland Security Committee in place of Rogers.
House Republicans also voted Thursday to keep Rep. Kay Granger (R-Texas) as the top Republican on the Appropriations Committee in the next Congress.
Granger represents Fort Worth, where Lockheed Martin [LMT] manufactures the F-35 and Bell [TXT] builds the V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft.
Democrats on Thursday voted to select Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) as the next chairwoman of the Appropriations Committee, succeeding Rep. Nita Lowey (R-N.Y.), who is retiring from her seat.
DeLauro’s district includes Sikorsky, Pratt & Whitney [RTX] and General Dynamics Electric Boat [GD] plants.