Tom Graves’s influence rises on spending issues | www.myajc.com

WASHINGTON — The lobby next to the U.S. House floor was mostly empty, except for Rep. Tom Graves, thumbing through emails as he sat on a bench.

“That guy,” said U.S. Rep. Lynn Westmoreland, a Coweta County Republican, gesturing toward his young colleague. “He’s a rising star.”

The 44-year-old Republican from Ranger is ending just his second full term in Congress, having arrived in a 2010 special election that gave him a leg up on that year’s Republican wave.

Graves put that dollop of seniority to use this week as he was named chairman of an appropriations subcommittee overseeing the legislative branch in the new Congress, a rapid rise to a position known as “cardinal.” The legislative branch’s spending is a fairly small, not at all sexy, section of the 12 annual spending bills — but holding fellow lawmakers’ purse strings can have some fringe benefits.

Graves put that dollop of seniority to use this week as he was named chairman of an appropriations subcommittee overseeing the legislative branch in the new Congress, a rapid rise to a position known as “cardinal.” The legislative branch’s spending is a fairly small, not at all sexy, section of the 12 annual spending bills — but holding fellow lawmakers’ purse strings can have some fringe benefits.

via Tom Graves’s influence rises on spending issues | www.myajc.com.