The House GOP panel responsible for committee assignments indefinitely delayed its planned Monday meeting to fill the party’s open seat on the Appropriations Committee following the Friday resignation of former Rep. Chris Stewart, R-Utah, sources familiar with the situation said.
The decision comes as House Republicans are struggling among themselves to unify on a temporary spending bill to avert a partial government shutdown starting Oct. 1. The House Republican Steering Committee isn’t expected to meet until at least after that deadline is past.
The Steering panel was expected to pick between three freshmen — Oregon’s Lori Chavez-DeRemer, New York’s Nick LaLota and North Carolina’s Chuck Edwards — to fill Stewart’s seat. The full GOP conference would next need to ratify the decision, but that’s typically just a formality.
