SoCal conservative taking over House spending committee (Rep Jerry Lewis)

[Khephra]

SoCal conservative taking over House spending committee

ERICA WERNER

Associated Press


WASHINGTON - Republican Rep. Jerry Lewis of Redlands won one of Washington's most powerful jobs Wednesday: chairman of the House committee that determines government spending.

Lewis was chosen by a committee of House leaders to head the House Appropriations Committee, which writes the government's 13 annual spending bills. The selection is expected to be ratified this week by the rest of the House's Republicans.

The choice caps a lifetime of public service by Lewis - and could be a boon for California as the state seeks a bigger share of federal spending and battles other states to keep its military bases open.

"California may not have had a big voice in the presidential election, but now it has a megaphone on Capitol Hill," said Jack Pitney, a government professor at Claremont McKenna College who worked for Lewis in the 1980s.

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