House GOP leaders on Tuesday picked Rep. Mac Thornberry of Texas to lead the House Armed Services Committee.
As expected, Thornberry was chosen by the Republican Steering Committee over Rep. Randy Forbes of Virginia. The current committee vice chairman, Thornberry was widely seen as the choice of outgoing Chairman Buck McKeon of California, who is retiring at the end of the year.
The full GOP Conference is expected to ratify the choice on Wednesday.
“The Armed Services Committee will be in the most capable of hands with Chairman-select Thornberry, and so will our Armed Forces,” McKeon said. “My heartfelt congratulations to him as he moves into this rewarding — and challenging — job.”
Thornberry easily won re-election to an 11th term in his north Texas district, considered the most pro-Republican in the country. He is seen as someone who will maintain the moderate, pro-defense stance that characterized McKeon’s leadership of the panel.
