Mica, Boehner to talk Transportation Committee chairmanship next week

{mosads}Republicans have already indicated they are planning to issue such a waiver for unsuccessful GOP vice presidential nominee Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) to remain in charge of the House Budget Committee. Mica is not coming off a spot on a national presidential ticket, but he is seeking a similar exception.

Rep. Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) has been widely presumed to be next in line atop the Transportation Committee, and the longtime Pennsylvania Republican has said he is moving forward with his bid for the panel’s gavel.

“I’ve spoken to him,” Shuster said of Mica on a conference call with reporters this week. “He said he may go for a waiver. That’s a question for him if he’s going to pursue a waiver. I’m going to pursue this.”

The possibility of Mica seeking a waiver notwithstanding, Shuster used his conference call to lay out a robust agenda for the Transportation Committee under his leadership in the 113th Congress next year.

“The next Congress is going to have to consider a highway bill … [the Passenger Rail Investment Act] will have to be reauthorized and we’ll have to do a water bill, which hasn’t been authorized,” Shuster said. “It’s good to be a very, very busy committee.”

Mica has not commented publicly on his future on the Transportation Committee since Tuesday’s election.