More drama for House Democrats

House Democrats on Wednesday elected Rep. Corrine Brown (D-Fla.) as ranking member of the Veterans Affairs Committee — but not without a good dose of controversy.

Brown, the senior member who was backed by Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), was facing a challenge from Rep. Tim Walz (D-Minn.), the highest-ranking enlisted soldier in congressional history who was endorsed by a long list of veterans groups.

The pair were vying for the seat being vacated by the outgoing Rep. Michael Michaud (D-Maine), who backed Walz.

But Walz’s run came to a screeching halt on Wednesday when his nomination for the post was abruptly withdrawn over his membership status on the panel.

{mosads}Walz is not a permanent member of the committee, having been granted a waiver to maintain his spot because he also sits on two other panels — the Agriculture and Transportation committees — which exceeds the Democrats’ two-panel limit.

Because waivers have not yet been issued for the 114th Congress, Walz is technically not a member of the VA Committee next year — at least not yet.

That issue took on enormous significance Wednesday when Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) filed a motion before the Democrats’ Steering and Policy Committee to deem Walz a member of the VA panel for purposes of running for ranking member.

Leaders of the Steering and Policy Committee, which is headed by Pelosi, balked at the motion, according to an aide in the room.

After some debate, Welch left the committee room, discussed the situation with Walz, and returned to announce that he was withdrawing his motion, the aide said.

The Steering and Policy panel then recommended Brown, the only candidate standing, for the post. That set up an up-and-down vote on the Florida Democrat in the full Caucus, which quickly approved her Wednesday afternoon.

Brown issued a statement saying she’s “humbled and honored” by the opportunity to lead the Democrats on the panel next year.

Walz, meanwhile, had a decided different view, mincing no words in expressing his disappointment with the process.
 
“The most unfortunate part was I just wanted to have an up-or-down vote. That’s asking little, and I certainly respect the caucus if they chose to go a different direction, but they never got to have that,” Walz said. “I never even got to make my case, in fact I never got invited into the room to speak. I think that part disappoints me, but we’ll keep advocating.”

After Brown was elected, Pelosi offered Walz a seat on the VA panel in the 114th Congress — a post the Minnesota Democrat quickly accepted.

Still, many Democrats are questioning Pelosi’s tactics in securing Brown’s victory.

“That wasn’t cool at all,” said one House Democrat, who spoke only anonymously because of the sensitivity of the topic. “Aside from the Pallone thing, which reaffirmed seniority, this one has different reverberations, because it’s about member-to-member treatment.”

The episode comes hot on the heels of Wednesday’s contentious vote for top Democrat on the Energy and Commerce Committee — and was likely affected by it.

In that contest, Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) defeated Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.), despite Pelosi’s strong endorsement for her close California ally.

Some Democrats say CBC members backed Pallone in order to preserve the power of seniority ahead of Brown’s race against Walz.

“A critical factor that harmed Eshoo’s candidacy was the Walz challenge to Corrine Brown,” said a senior Democratic aide. “The CBC felt under attack and went to bat for one of their own — and not being for Pallone was seen as weakening Brown’s candidacy.”

Veterans groups wasted no time slamming Democratic leaders for Wednesday’s events.

“This is a dumb move,” said Paul Rieckhoff, founder of the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, which has endorsed Walz. “It’s a dumb move for their party. It’s dumb for the committee. It’s dumb for veterans.”

Rieckhoff said that giving Brown the ranking member spot would likely mark a return to “the days of partisan squabbling that wasted years.”

Dan Caldwell, legislative director of the Concerned Veterans for America, agreed. He characterized Brown as “detached from reality” about the problems at the VA and called the use of parliamentary rules to block Walz’s candidacy “bizarre and petty.”

“I think this shows the Democratic leadership in the House is not serious about reforming and fixing the VA,” Caldwell said Wednesday.

— This story was first posted at 2:27 p.m. and has been updated.