Rep. Kay Granger (R-Texas), who chairs the House Appropriations Committee’s defense panel, plans to vie for the helm of the full committee if Republicans keep control of the House in this fall’s elections.

Since Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-N.J.) announced Jan. 29 that he will not seek re-election to Congress (Defense Daily, Jan. 30), “people have been encouraging me to seek the Appropriations Committee gavel,” Granger said in a statement. 

Rep. Kay Granger (R-Texas) (Photo courtesy of Granger's office)
Rep. Kay Granger (R-Texas) (Photo courtesy of Granger’s office)

The defense chair is often seen as a natural launching pad to the full committee chair, as the defense panel handles more than half of the funding overseen by the full committee.

Granger hails from Fort Worth, which is home to the Lockheed Martin [LMT] plant that builds the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and the F-16 Fighting Falcon. Her biography describes her as a staunch advocate of military aid to Israel, including the development of missile defenses.

Separately, Granger welcomed President Donald Trump’s defense-related comments in his Jan. 30 State of the Union speech, saying she shares his “determination to rebuild our military forces.” Trump urged Congress to end the defense funding caps required by the Budget Control Act of 2011.

“I look forward to working with the president to give our military leaders the sufficient, sustainable and stable funding they have told us — over and over again — that they need,” she said.