Rep. John Kline: A Committee Chair in Shadow of House Leadership

When Rep. John Kline was named chair of the House Education and Workforce Committee in 2011, he became only the fifth Minnesotan to earn a chairmanship in the last half century.

But, as the Star Tribune pointed out earlier this week, despite overseeing a $6 million annual budget and holding a position of prestige and putative influence, the fact is that committee chairs don't have as much power as they used to.

A combination of political maneuvers that have centralized power in the hands of party leadership and rule changes—such as a three-term limit for committee chairs—have served to rob committee chairs of much of the legislative control committee chairs wielded in earlier eras.

During a summer 2012 partisan negotiation between the Republican-controlled Congress and President Obama over student loan rates, Kline's office had a seat at the table, drafting multiple versions of proposed legislation, the Star Tribune reported. But when it came time to final negotiations, Kline was bigfooted by House Speaker John Boehner and sat on the sidelines as party leadership made a deal with Obama.

Political experts say that committee chairs have had a diminished role in the lawmaking process in recent years.

“They just don’t have much power these days,” Todd Eberly, a political scientist at St. Mary’s College of Maryland, told the Star Tribune.

“It’s been hard for anybody to accomplish anything,” said Vin Weber, a D.C.-based lobbyist and former Minnesota congressman. “The climate is not conducive to any type of compromise.”

But committee chairs are not yet moribund: Members of Congress' fundraising abilities skyrocket with senior committee appointments—Kline's PAC donations nearly tripled between 2010 and 2012—and committee chairs still wield significant power among issues not prioritized by House leadership.

“The committee chair is allowed to do anything he wants to do, as long as the House leadership approves,” Jim Oberstar, former chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, told the Star Tribune.