The House Energy and Commerce Committee announced a leadership shuffle Thursday atop two subcommittees that oversee energy and environment policies and agencies.
Rep. Gary Palmer of Alabama will become chair of the Environment Subcommittee, while Rep. John Joyce of Pennsylvania will take over Palmer’s previous position atop the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee. The shake-up is due to former Health Subcommittee Chair Buddy Carter’s (R-Ga.) decision to focus on his upcoming Senate run.
Palmer has long focused on increasing domestic production of critical minerals and lessening the U.S.’s dependence on China. He advised President Donald Trump during his most recent campaign on critical mineral policy.
The Alabama Republican has also been a staunch critic of Biden-era EPA regulations on fossil fuel power plants and led an Oversight Subcommittee hearing this year on the agency’s “reckless spending” stemming from the Inflation Reduction Act and bipartisan infrastructure law.
