Rep. Pete Stauber of Minnesota is making a run for the top Republican spot on the House Natural Resources Committee in the next Congress — teeing up a potential battle with the current chair, Bruce Westerman, who isn’t ruling out asking for a waiver to serve another term.
“Congressman Stauber is running to serve as chair/ranking member of Natural Resources, and he is speaking to members of our Conference, including steering members,” his spokesperson said in an email Thursday.
The GOP Steering Committee, composed of party leaders and members of the conference representing different geographic regions, will meet after the midterms to make assignments to the House’s standing committees — and vote on recommendations for who should be the senior Republican on those committees.
Stauber has sat on Natural Resources since 2020 and currently chairs the Energy and Mineral Resources Subcommittee. He has long been active on energy and environmental issues and led the successful effort to overturn a Biden-era ban on mining near the Boundary Stone wilderness in his district.
His public interest in leading his party on the panel could create an uncomfortable showdown with Westerman. The Arkansas Republican is finishing up his third term as the top Republican on Natural Resources and so must step aside at the end of this year, per House GOP term limit rules. But Westerman also could seek a waiver from the steering committee to serve a fourth term, and in an interview Thursday he was noncommittal on his plans.
“We’ll figure all that out after the election,” Westerman said, adding he was at this time “more focused on winning the majority.”
“It’s premature for me to be talking about a waiver right now,” he added — but, when asked whether that meant he would not ask for one, he replied, “I didn’t say that.”
Westerman also dismissed the idea that a decision to move ahead with a waiver request would forecast a messy fight with Stauber.
“Pete and me battling? No … Pete and I have always been friends, and I’m just not focused on that,” he said.
Stauber’s spokesperson said the lawmaker would pursue the committee leadership position regardless of Westerman’s decision.
Westerman is one of multiple Republican chairs who are term-limited next year and considering asking for an exemption, while risking some intraparty conflicts along the way.
House Agriculture Chair GT Thompson (R-Pa.) has already submitted a waiver request and circulated it with colleagues, including those on steering, according to a document obtained by POLITICO. It comes as Rep. Austin Scott (R-Ga.), who is next in line to become chair or ranking member of the committee, has privately approached GOP leaders about succeeding Thompson, according to a person granted anonymity to discuss private discussions.
Rep. Mike Rogers of Arkansas, the chair of House Armed Services, also plans to seek a waiver to serve as the top Republican on the panel in the next Congress. Republican Reps. Ronny Jackson of Texas, Rob Wittman of Virginia and Trent Kelly of Mississippi have said they are interested in the position as well.
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