Rep. Sam Graves Seeks Waiver To Remain In Top Committee Position

Rep. Sam Graves, R-Mo., is requesting a waiver, hoping to retain his position as top Republican on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. Now in his sixth year as ranking member on the committee and second year as chairman, Graves is coming up on the end of the term limits for the position. An avid general aviation pilot, he has been privately discussing the waiver with the Republican Steering Committee, according to a report on the rollcall website.

The panel’s second-most senior GOP member, Rep. Rick Crawford, R- Ark., is reportedly expected to announce he will throw his hat into the ring for the leadership position. Both Crawford and Graves have long served on the committee, Graves for 20 years and Crawford for 10. Crawford currently serves as chairman of the House Highways and Transit Subcommittee.

Graves recently has spearheaded the long-suffering effort to push through a Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization bill in the House, a bipartisan effort he shares with ranking Democratic member Rick Larsen, D-Wash.