Aderholt. Photo: Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call
Rep. Kay Granger's decision to step down as House Appropriations Committee chair opens the door for current Labor-HHS cardinal Robert Aderholt to run for the full committee chairmanship.
Why it matters: Aderholt, now in his 14th term, is expected to run against Rules Committee Chairman Tom Cole, another veteran appropriator who at one time also helmed the Labor-HHS subcommittee.
Catch up quick: Granger made her decision soon after the House passed its second minibus package.
- Aderholt voted against the package, citing numerous earmarks senators added to the Labor-HHS title that he said funded projects "directed toward services for illegal immigrants and facilities providing routine abortion services."
- The base bill contained relatively flat funding for federal health agencies, with HHS getting $116.8 billion for FY24.
Aderholt is staunchly anti-abortion, and opposes providing funding to Planned Parenthood or clinics that offer abortion services.
- He was among the GOP appropriators who loaded up their spending bills with anti-abortion and anti-gender affirming care measures that upended plans of passing 12 separate appropriations bills.
- Cole was a big proponent of increased funding for NIH when he served as Labor-HHS subcommittee chair.
- His support of biomedical research is partly driven by his father's battle with Alzheimer's disease and his wife Ellen's struggles with multiple sclerosis.
