U.S. Representative Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut will assume a new role as chair of the House Appropriations Committee.
House Democrats voted by a nearly two-to-one margin in favor of DeLauro over Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida.
Democratic colleagues said DeLauro will now become the most powerful Connecticut lawmaker in Washington for generations. Her fellow Representative John Larson compared her to Jonathan Trumbull, who served as the country’s second-ever Speaker of the House in the 1790s.
DeLauro said being elected chair is the greatest honor of her life. But she warned that Congress will likely face gridlock, despite Democratic control of the House and the White House.
