Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.) was the ranking member of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee and was all set to take the gavel in the new Congress. Then Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s (R-Cali.) bid to become speaker hit a roadblock and he tossed Buchanan under the bus to give the powerful seat to Rep. Jason Smith — then fifth in seniority on the committee.
In status-conscious Washington, this was a serious breach of protocol. But to make matters worse, McCarthy actually worked to depose Buchanan and elect Smith to the chair.
Needless to say, Buchanan lost his temper.
Just how angry was he? Well, a source on the House floor during the vote told me that while McCarthy was gaveling down the votes, Buchanan walked up to McCarthy and said, “You f*cked me, I know it was you, you whipped against me.” He then proceeded to chew out McCarthy’s deputy chief of staff for floor operations, John Leganski. It was shocking to see such fury from Buchanan, who’s known for being mild mannered. Indeed, I heard that the tirade was so heated that the Speaker’s security detail stepped in with a light touch. (McCarthy’s spokesperson Matt Sparks disputed this detail saying, “at no point did anyone have to step in.” A spokesperson for Buchanan declined to comment.)
It couldn’t have been a surprise that Buchanan, who is independently wealthy and a key donor whisperer, isn’t taking the snub lightly. “Vern put out more money in fundraising than anyone else, and he wanted that job,” said a source. Another noted that the congressman had raised more than $4.1 million for the National Republican Congressional Committee and threw together a last minute fundraiser at his house—at McCarthy’s request—for Anna Paulina Luna, with special guest Newt Gingrich. “But Smith is a McCarthy crony,” this person said.
In “get along, go along” Washington, Buchanan was magnanimous in defeat.
“I want to congratulate Jason and wish him well. We have a big agenda to fulfill, and I look forward to working with him and the committee on shared priorities,” Buchanan said after losing the vote.
Like a Klingon, Buchanan knows that revenge is a dish best served cold. Mr. Smith would do well to tread very carefully.
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But Buchanan wasn’t the only member of the establishment who was passed over or who failed to get the committee assignments they would have ordinarily expected to get. And this becomes a problem when so many newbies are fumbling around, trying to master the extraordinarily complex workings of committees.
“You don’t really know the job until you get the job. It’s fast and furious on the issues front,” said Dave Camp (R-Mich.), the former congressman who served as chair of the Ways and Means Committee from 2011 to 2015.
For old Washington hands, it’s worrisome to have so many relatively new lawmakers and senior staff in charge of key committees.
“It takes a lot of experience,” Rep. Harold Rogers (R-Ky.), the dean of the House, who chaired the Appropriations Committee from 2011 to 2017, said Wednesday.
What makes members like Buchanan so valuable is their knowledge and expertise in getting things done. Hopefully, Smith will have more than a couple of years to understand the nuances of the job and be able to master the ins and outs of being a committee chair.
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