Tea Party-backed freshman to lead D.C. subcommittee

Of the two House subcommittees tasked with overseeing the District, one will be led by a moderate Republican with local roots -- and the other by a freshman Tea Party member from South Carolina. This should be interesting.

The Post reported this morning that Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC) has been tapped to chair the newly created Subcommittee on Health Care, District of Columbia, Census and the National Archives. Gowdy, who defeated incumbent Rep. Bob Inglis in the Republican primary last year, will join Rep. Jo Ann Emerson (R-MO) as part of the one-two congressional punch that governs all things D.C.

But while we somewhat know what to expect from Emerson -- and her local connections make her someone that D.C. voting rights advocates will likely be able to talk to -- Gowdy is something of a blank slate, albeit one with heavy Tea Party leanings. That can be good, or it can be bad. If Gowdy, like many Tea Party activists, believes that taxation without representation is truly unjust, then maybe he'll take a little sympathy on the District's plight. And maybe he's the type of conservative that sees same-sex marriage less as an attack on "tradition" than a private decision between two consenting adults and leave our marriage equality law alone.

[Continue reading Martin Austermuhle's post here at DCist.]

Martin Austermuhle blogs at DCist. The Local Blog Network is a group of bloggers from around the D.C. region who have agreed to make regular contributions to All Opinions Are Local.