Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.), the top Republican on the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee, speaks at a telecommunications industry event. (via flickr – Internet Education Foundation)

With the impending retirement of Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.), the top Republican on the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee, one of the most profitable positions in Congress is up for grabs.

The news of Walden’s pending exit spurred at least five House Republicans on the committee to express interest in the top spot and even made Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.) reconsider his decision to retire after his term is up, Politico reported.

Shimkus is presumably the frontrunner for the position, as he is a senior member of the committee and he finished second to Walden in a 2016 closed-door election for the top spot.

Powerful companies and industry groups watch the Energy and Commerce Committee closely, as it has a wide jurisdiction that covers healthcare, energy and telecommunications issues. For the top members on the committee, that leads to an influx of industry campaign contributions and a new batch of opportunities in a post-Congress career.

Walden, the committee’s chairman when Republicans held the House, is the top recipient of campaign funds from TV and radio stations, forest products and telecom services, and the No. 2 recipient of health services, pharmaceuticals / health products and telephone utilities.

Chairman Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) is the No. 1 recipient of money from the nutritional and dietary supplement industry. His campaign and leadership PAC have already received six figures from lobbyists and PACs related to health professionals and pharmaceutical companies. The steady inflow of industry cash leaves Pallone with $2.9 million cash on hand, among the most of any House member and more than enough to fend off primary challengers.

Then there’s the lucrative private sector career that several former chairmen have taken on after leaving Congress.

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Former Rep. Billy Tauzin (R-La.), who chaired Energy and Commerce from 2001 to 2004, played a key role in the passage of Medicare reforms in 2003. Tauzin’s committee passed legislation that blocked the government from negotiating drug prices, a major win for pharmaceutical manufacturers. And after his retirement in 2005, Tauzin swiftly became CEO of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, a job that paid him $11.6 million in his final year at the influential trade group.

Tauzin stepped down in 2010 after striking a deal with President Barack Obama to support the Affordable Care Act in exchange for some concessions, a controversial decision lambasted by major drugmakers. His lobbying firm, Tauzin Strategic Networks, is still active, bringing in $800,000 this year primarily from companies in the health sector.

Former Rep. Thomas Bliley Jr (R-Va.) parlayed his chairmanship of the committee into a nearly two-decade lobbying career. The 87-year-old is still listed as a senior government affairs advisor for Washington firm Steptoe & Johnson but is not an active lobbyist this year for the first time since 2001.

A one-term chairman of the committee from 2009 to 2011, Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) now runs a lobbying and public relations firm that received $270,000 this year from federal clients. Most of that, $180,000, came from 340B Health, a company that represents hospitals and health systems that participate in the federal government’s drug pricing program.

Shimkus, the ranking member on the environment and climate change subcommittee, will need support from party leadership to get the post. The Illinois Republican may have hurt his chances earlier this month when he denounced President Donald Trump over what he called a “terrible and despicable” decision to pull American troops from northern Syria.

This week Shimkus said he has a “policy difference or two” with the president but agrees on many more issues, Roll Call reported.



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