Rookies lead the way on House science panel

A major perk of being the majority party in the U.S. Congress is getting to fill the leadership slots on every committee. For several new Democratic legislators, however, having their party regain control of the House of Representatives also creates an unprecedented opportunity to shape U.S. science policy.

On Wednesday, the newly configured House science committee will convene for the first time to adopt its rules and structure. To no one's surprise, the 39-member committee will choose Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson (D–TX) as its chairwoman.

On the science panel, those rules both drastically shrunk the list of members eligible for leadership posts and boosted the chances of freshmen legislators. It knocked out of the running such longtime science advocates as Representative Daniel Lipinski (D–IL), who led the research panel when the Democrats were previously in the majority, and Representative Suzanne Bonamici (OR), the top Democrat on the environmental panel in the 115th Congress. Even Representative Bill Foster (D–IL), the only Ph.D. physicist in Congress, is far down the eligibility list because he also serves on the influential Committee on Financial Services.