Kean snags seat on Energy and Commerce Committee

Soon to enter his second term in Congress, Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R-Westfield) has snagged a position he’s been eyeing ever since his first day in the House: a seat on the influential House Energy and Commerce Committee.

The E&C Committee is considered one of the House’s most powerful bodies; “If it moves, it’s energy, and if it doesn’t, it’s commerce,” quipped the late Rep. John Dingell of just how wide the committee’s reach is. Kean had made efforts to join the committee before, including earlier this year when a Republican retirement opened up a seat midway through the session (the seat went instead to Michigan Rep. John James).

Those efforts paid off this morning, when the House GOP’s Steering and Policy Committee, which determines committee assignments, selected Kean to be one of ten new Republican E&C members.

“I am honored to be selected to serve on the Energy and Commerce Committee, where I look forward to working with my colleagues to address the critical issues facing our nation’s energy future, research and development, and economy,” Kean said in a statement. “Our work will shape the path forward for innovation, sustainability, and opportunity for New Jerseyans and people across our nation.” 

As one of five so-called “exclusive committees” – a set of committees that perform especially intensive work – most members of E&C typically have no other committee assignments. Kean’s office did not say whether the congressman would seek to serve on any committees besides E&C, something which won’t be determined until other committee decisions are made in the coming days. Presumably, Kean will depart from at least some of his seats on the Transportation & Infrastructure Committee, the Science, Space, & Technology Committee, and the Foreign Affairs Committee, where he currently chairs a Europe-focused subcommittee.

The Transportation & Infrastructure seat is especially notable, since the late Rep. Donald Payne Jr. (D-Newark) had also held a T&I seat before his death; it’s possible that as more committee assignments are determined, new members like Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-Newark) or Reps.-elect Herb Conaway (D-Delran) or Nellie Pou (D-North Haledon) could land there. (Reps. Rob Menendez and Jeff Van Drew still hold seats on the committee, which has substantial influence over dense, transit-heavy New Jersey.)

For Kean, who has won two competitive races against well-funded Democrats in the 7th congressional district, the new committee posting will be a boost to his profile – and to his fundraising, since high-dollar donors often flock to members of powerful committees.

Also serving on E&C is Rep. Frank Pallone (D-Long Branch), who was unanimously chosen by his Democratic colleagues earlier this week for a sixth consecutive term as the top Democrat on the committee. (Pallone has been the only New Jerseyan on the committee for a number of years, in part because he likes it that way, though he has little say in which Republicans are able to become members.)

Pallone was the committee’s chairman from 2019 to 2023, but with Democrats still stuck in a very narrow minority next Congress, he’ll be ranking member instead; the new chair will be Rep. Brett Guthrie (R-Kentucky).