Rep. Fred Upton (left) talks with Rep. Christopher Shays outside a GOP conference meeting. GOP wants say on Upton's staff

Republican leaders intend to keep a firm grip on the powerful Energy and Commerce Committee if the GOP captures the House next month.

Top House Republicans are prepared to give the gavel to Michigan moderate Rep. Fred Upton if the chamber flips, but leadership is seeking to keep a hand on the reins by helping to hire his staff director, according to lobbyists familiar with the negotiations.


Upton appears to have fended off more dogmatic contenders for the post — including former Chairman Joe Barton of Texas and Rep. John Shimkus of Illinois — but leadership is going to “watch very closely who gets picked as staff director,” said an energy lobbyist close to the discussions.

“There’s pretty widespread concern that he’s both too moderate and that he may not be hard enough to run what has become a pretty ‘rough and tumble’ Energy and Commerce Committee,” the lobbyist said of Upton.

The Energy and Commerce Committee stands to be the platform for key debates next year on the health care law, global warming, Net neutrality and a wide range of business regulations.

Upton has broken with his party on some key issues; he supported Democrats’ efforts to expand health insurance to children from low-income families, voted to expand federal spending on federal embryonic stem cell research and supported a boost to the federal minimum wage.

Still, Upton toed the GOP line opposing major Obama administration initiatives. He has vowed to support legislation that would repeal the health care overhaul and staunchly opposed the cap-and-trade bill that passed the House in 2009, although he says he supports initiatives to combat climate change.

Lobbyists close to the committee have outlined varying accounts when it comes to how aggressive leadership has been in recommending staffers. One lobbyist said top Republicans have made it clear which candidates would win their approval; another said Upton pitched potential staffers with leadership loyalty in order to bolster his chances at winning the coveted gavel.

But it’s clear, one source said, that “leadership has some preferences about what kinds of people get picked” and that person will need “a reputation for being direct and hard-nosed.”

On leadership’s “pre-approved” list of candidates: Mike Ference, a senior policy adviser on energy issues to House Minority Whip Eric Cantor; and Bill Cooper, former counsel to the Energy and Commerce panel under Barton.

Several other names are in the mix, including Jeff MacKinnon, a former staffer in Barton’s personal office, and Bud Albright, who was a top Energy Department official during the Bush administration and Energy and Commerce staff director under Barton.

MacKinnon and Albright aren’t seen as likely picks. Upton most likely wouldn’t choose MacKinnon, one source said, because of his work on Barton’s personal staff, and Albright is seen as unlikely to accept the post.

“The intersection of guys who would want it and guys who would be acceptable to everybody — you’re looking at Ference and Cooper,” the lobbyist said.

Upton last week denied rumors that leadership was helping him to line up his top staff. “There’s no truth to that,” he said, adding that Republicans are focused on winning back the House.

A spokesman for House Minority Leader John Boehner didn’t respond to a request for comment.