Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill is departing the House Armed Services Committee spot she’s held since arriving in the House in 2019, but the seat will stay in New Jersey hands.
Rep. Herb Conaway (D-Delran), a first-term congressman and Air Force veteran, announced today that he’ll be filling Sherrill’s seat on the committee, which is responsible for writing the annual National Defense Authorization Act and conducting other military-related oversight and legislation. The new posting was recommended by the House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee and approved by the entire Democratic caucus this morning.
Conaway’s district includes part of Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, an enormous military installation in Burlington and Ocean Counties, and it’s long been traditional for House members from the 3rd district to aim for an Armed Services posting. Conaway’s predecessor, now-Senator Andy Kim, sat on the committee during his three terms in the House, as did three of the four congressmen who came before Kim.
For Kim, the seat was hard-won: he had promised not to vote for Nancy Pelosi for House Speaker on the campaign trail in 2018, but reneged on that promise in order to secure an Armed Services spot. Sherrill, meanwhile, stuck to her pledge to vote against Pelosi, and got posted to the committee anyway.
One other New Jerseyan, Rep. Donald Norcross (D-Camden), also currently holds a seat on the committee.
Conaway was assigned at the beginning of this year to the House Veterans Affairs Committee and the House Small Business Committee; it’s not immediately clear whether he intends to keep both of those postings as well.
“I have the privilege of representing parts of Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, which is the only tri-service military base in the United States,” Conaway said in a statement this morning. “It not only prepares our nation’s warfighters for battle but also serves as an integral part of our community. I’m excited for the opportunity to work in a bipartisan manner to help fulfill the needs of the Joint Base and to support the service members across the globe who are defending our nation.”
Sherrill resigned from her committee assignments on November 12, and is set to submit her letter of resignation from the House this week. She also held a seat on the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, a far newer committee created in 2023.
With Sherrill’s departure, Conaway will soon be the only military veteran from New Jersey in Congress, though several of the candidates running to succeed Sherrill in the 11th congressional district also come from a military background.