The 2026 midterms are still months away, but the fight to land a seat on Congress’s two most powerful tax-writing panels is already underway, Politico reports, with dozens of lawmakers in both parties angling for a spot on the House Ways and Means Committee or the Senate Finance Committee.
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“A wave of departures” is opening the door, according to the report.
On the House side, Democrats Lloyd Doggett, Danny Davis and Dwight Evans plan to leave, joined by four Republicans headed for the exits amid a record wave of GOP retirements.
Senate Finance is set to lose Democrat Tina Smith and five Republicans, with Thom Tillis and Steve Daines retiring, and Marsha Blackburn running for Tennessee governor. John Cornyn and Bill Cassidy suffered humiliating primary defeats this year as President Donald Trump remade the party from the right.
The panels write the nation’s tax laws, including last year’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Landing a seat can take years and, Politico reported, a willingness to spend.
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Two Democratic frontrunners, Reps. Morgan McGarvey and Marilyn Strickland, have donated three years running to the annual fundraising dinner ranking member Richard Neal hosts for the party’s House campaign arm. Six other Democrats chipped in for the first time this year, a signal they may be seeking promotions.
Progressives see an opening too, with Rep. Don Beyer saying that if Democrats flip the House, four of six subcommittees could be chaired by women, “which would be unprecedented.”
The quiet jockeying is a longtime tradition.
“It never stops,” said Sen. Mike Crapo, the top Finance Republican. “There are always members of the Senate who are not on the committee who are letting their desires be known.”
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