Powered by The Oklahoman MainStreetOK.com Panhandle

The Oklahoman Digital Delivery

A Washington ag lobbyist who spent time Tuesday tracking the Steering Committee for the House Republicans told Ron Hayes of the Oklahoma Farm Report that it appears that Con. Frank Lucas of Oklahoma’s Third Congressional District could be named the ranking minority member of the House Ag Committee as early as today or Thursday.

The current ranking member, Bob Goodlatte, will stay on the Ag Committee and Judiciary Committee. He will not be getting a ranking member slot on the Judiciary committee, but might get either Lucas’ or Hayes’ ranking subcommittee memberships on House Ag. Goodlatte has served four years as Chairman of the Committee, then the last two as the ranking minority member.

The Steering Committee met for the first time Tuesday — and affirmed that the six-year term limit rule would be honored and that pushes Goodlatte out of the Ranking slot. Con. Lucas has served in Congress since the Republican revolution of 1994 and, as a result, has served on the House Ag Committee through three farm bills in 1996, 2002 and 2008.