How 119th US Congress committee leadership could shape digital policy

U.S. Rep. Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., will serve as the chair of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce in the 119th Congress, beginning 3 Jan. 2025.

The announcement ends the mystery over the future leadership of the House and Senate committees controlling a majority of Congress' technology policy portfolio, including data privacy and commercial AI governance legislation. Guthrie's election represents the biggest shift in the leadership of the two committees.

Guthrie will join Ranking Member Frank Pallone, D-N.J., who is expected to continue his role as the minority leader on the Energy and Commerce Committee.

On the Senate side, as Republicans take control in the next Congress, the party leaders for the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation will trade places. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, will serve as chair while Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., moves to ranking member.

With outgoing House Energy and Commerce Chair Cathy McMorris-Rodgers, R-Wash., stepping down at the end of the term, Guthrie made no secret of his strong desire to lead the full committee. Unlike Rodgers, however, Guthrie has not been focused on data privacy or other tech policy issues. In the 118th Congress, he currently chairs the Energy and Commerce's Subcommittee on Health, while sitting on two other subcommittees: Oversight and Investigations and Energy, Climate and Grid Security.

Explaining his interest in chairing the full committee in a lengthy interview with the Washington Reporter in September, Guthrie quipped, "If it moves, it's energy, and if it doesn’t, it's commerce."