Warner Challenges Inhofe On Senate Environment Panel
Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman James M. Inhofe (Okla.) faces a challenge from long-time committee member John W. Warner (Va.) to be the panel's ranking Republican in the new Congress. Democrats' victories in the Nov. 7 election gave them control of the Senate and its committees next year. Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) will chair the "EPW" panel.
Warner has been on the committee since 1987, eight years longer than Inhofe, its chairman since 2003. Warner said in a Nov. 17 statement, "As the senior Republican on the EPW Committee, I intend to submit my name for election as the ranking minority member of that panel. I will do so in recognition of established Senate Republican Conference rules and precedents."