Pelosi Taps Her Newest Members For Financial Services

By Patrick O'Connor

(The Politico)  Three newly elected House Democrats should soon be receiving seats on the Financial Services Committee after the party's steering committee issued its recommendations Thursday.

Don Cazayoux and Travis Childers, the two Democrats who recently beat Republicans in a pair of special elections in Louisiana and Mississippi, respectively, to pick up seats previously held by the GOP, were both recommended for seats on Financial Services. The Democratic Steering and Policy Committee also recommended a seat on the committee for California Rep. Jackie Speier, who was elected to fill the Bay Area seat occupied by deceased Democrat Tom Lantos.

The full Democratic Caucus will vote to ratify these recommendations after members return from the week-long Memorial Day recess. The committee will give these members a good base from which to raise money for their abbreviated reelection efforts.

Childers was also promised a seat on the Agriculture Committee during his race with Republican Greg Davis in Mississippi - a move to boost his bona fides in the rural parts of the district he needed to steal another GOP seat.