Meet the New Bosses

Now that Republicans have chosen the chairmen who will seize the gavels from Democratic House Committee leaders next year, they’re vowing to add jobs and undo Democratic initiatives.

Each of the chairs named today appears to have the same top priority: to do whatever they can to roll back legislation passed by Democrats and regulations enacted by President Barack Obama’s administration.

Here’s a look at who was selected to lead five key committees that will have a major say in how government policies affect business:

Appropriations

Hal Rogers of Kentucky will lead this committee, since Republicans declined to give ranking Republican Jerry Lewis of California a waiver from its term-limits rules. Both Rogers and Lewis were avid earmarkers in the past, but both pledged to change their ways if they were selected chairman.

Rogers will have two jobs as chairman of this committee, which makes decisions on funding for government agencies. The first will be to cut spending to a bare minimum; the second will be to use appropriations bills to prohibit agencies from spending funds to implement the programs that Republicans don’t like, such as health care reform.

“The nation is in a fiscal crisis, and hard decisions are coming,” Rogers said. “I look forward to working with the leadership and my Republican colleagues in fighting for serious reforms of the committee, bringing fiscal sanity back to our budgeting process, performing vigorous oversight of the failed job-creation policies of the Obama administration, and moving our nation forward.”

Education and Labor

John Kline of Minnesota, the committee’s current ranking Republican, will chair this committee, which has been chaired by liberal Democrat George Miller of California.

Kline said “job creation and American competitiveness” will top the committee’s agenda.

“My goal for the federal programs and agencies that oversee our schools and workplaces is to provide certainty and simplicity,” Kline said. “We must ensure federal red tape does not become the enemy of innovation, and that federal mandates do not become roadblocks on the path to reform.”

Expect numerous hearings to address allegations that Department of Labor agencies, such as the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, are being unfair to small businesses. The National Labor Relations Board also will be in Kline’s crosshairs, since Republicans fear the NLRB is trying to make it easier for unions to organize workplaces.

Energy and Commerce

Like Rogers, Fred Upton of Michigan leapfrogged this committee’s ranking Republican, Joe Barton of Texas, to become chairman.

Barton had two strikes against him: like Lewis, he needed a waiver of Republicans’ term-limits rule to become chairman; and many Republicans are still furious with Barton over his apology to former BP CEO Tony Hayward during a June hearing on the Gulf oil spill.

Upton’s main challenge was to assure fellow Republicans that he was conservative enough. He’s making up for any past moderate positions now. For example, he pledged to enact legislation to repeal health care reform.

“The fight to repeal Obamacare begins now,” Upton said.

He also promised to challenge the Environmental Protection Agency’s use of the Clean Air Act to issue regulations limiting carbon emissions. EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson can expect to be called before his committee at least 25 times next year, he said.

"The Obama administration is on notice—they will not be allowed to regulate what they have been unable to legislate,” Upton said.

That includes the Federal Communications Commission’s plans to issue “net neutrality” regulations, which would require Internet providers to give equal treatment to all Web traffic.

“I will block the FCC from regulating the Internet,” Upton said.

Financial Services

Spencer Bachus of Alabama, the committee’s current ranking Republican, overcame a challenge from Ed Royce of California to win the chairmanship. Some Republicans thought the soft-spoken Bachus wasn’t a strong enough foil to current chairman Barney Frank of Massachusetts.

Bachus better be ready to take on the sharp-tongued Democrat, because one of the new chairman’s top priorities will be undoing parts of the financial reform law that bears Frank’s name.

“We are committed to going title by title through the 2,300-page Dodd-Frank Act to correct, replace, or repeal the job-killing provisions that unnecessarily punish small businesses and community banks that did nothing to cause the financial crisis,” Bachus said.

Reform of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac also will be a major priority for the committee. The housing industry wants to make sure that reining in these government-sponsored enterprises doesn’t depress the mortgage market.

Small Business

Sam Graves of Missouri, the committee’s current ranking Republican, was chosen to be chairman next Congress. The committee has primary jurisdiction over Small Business Administration program, but also holds hearings on how other government programs and policies affect small businesses.

Steve Chabot of Ohio, who had been the committee’s ranking Republican until he lost his seat in 2008, hoped to become chairman after he reclaimed his seat this November. Chabot, however, went along with too many of current Democratic Chairman Nydia Velazquez’s initiatives to suit many Republicans.

Graves is a sixth-generation farmer who was first elected to the House in 2000. He is staunchly conservative, and much less likely than Velazquez to push for expansion of SBA programs.

“One of my primary goals will be to aggressively weed out waste, fraud, and abuse within programs intended to encourage small-business development,” Graves said. “We will also be closely investigating federal policies that have the potential to adversely impact entrepreneurs and stifle job creation.”

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Kent Hoover is the Washington bureau chief for bizjournals.