House Energy and Commerce Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) said last night that he won't make any decisions on who will take over two looming subcommittee chairmanship vacancies on the panel until the week after Thanksgiving.

When asked how he planned to fill the chairmanship openings on the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee and the Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade Subcommittee, Upton pointed out that he has yet to be reappointed to the full committee chairmanship in the 113th Congress (E&E Daily, Nov. 13).

That Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) will do so isn't in doubt. But Upton said that before subcommittee leadership decisions can be made, decisions need to be made about ratios for House committee and subcommittee membership. Those issues are expected to be decided at the end of this week after the Republican conference sorts out its top leadership posts.

"If I win [the committee chairmanship] again, then at that point, we'll make the decisions that we've got to make," Upton said. "We're going to get to first base before we get to second."

With the defeat last week of Rep. Mary Bono Mack (R-Calif.), who headed the Manufacturing and Trade subpanel, Upton lost his lone female subcommittee cardinal.

Some committee watchers have speculated that Upton would likely appoint another female to one of the subcommittee chairmanship openings, but when asked whether that was his plan, Upton would only say that "we'll be looking at all the factors as we move ahead."

Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) currently serves as vice chairwoman of the Manufacturing and Trade Subcommittee and could be a natural fit to fill the opening left by Bono Mack. But she is also a senior member of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, which is considered a higher-profile subpanel.

"I've worked hard for all of our colleagues and spent a lot of time on" committee issues, Blackburn said. But she referred further questions about panel leadership positions back to the committee.

Regarding the Oversight and Investigations post, Reps. Michael Burgess (R-Texas), Lee Terry (R-Neb.) and Tim Murphy (R-Pa.) are considered viable choices for the seat being vacated by outgoing Chairman Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.).

Burgess did not want to speculate last night on the issue. And a spokeswoman for Terry indicated to Politico last week that her boss is definitely interested in a subcommittee post.

"I think there are a lot of good prospects," Stearns said last night. "I think this oversight committee has been elevated to be a very desirable subcommittee."

But Stearns declined to name a favorite to fill his shoes.

Committee Chairman Emeritus Joe Barton (R-Texas) -- who lost the race for committee chairman to Upton after Republicans won the House in 2010 -- said that yesterday Upton asked in a meeting with committee members that they not publicly discuss the jockeying for the leadership openings. But Barton did acknowledge that there are discussions going on among members behind closed doors.