WASHINGTON, June 9 (UPI) -- Aides to powerful House Republican Tom Davis of Virginia are dismissing speculation that he might be the next chairman of the Homeland Security Committee.
"Frankly, he's having a blast" as chairman of the House Government Reform Committee, one aide told United Press International.
Davis -- along with Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, and Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y. -- has been mentioned as a possible successor to current Homeland Security Committee Chairman Rep. Chris Cox, R-Calif., who has been tapped by President Bush to head the Securities and Exchange Commission.
"He was offered the homeland security post 2 1/2 years ago, and he turned it down," said the aide.
Observers say that the Government Reform Committee is a good "jurisdictional fit" for Davis' Northern Virginia district, where many government employees live.
One GOP operative on Capitol Hill suggested that Young, one of the most powerful committee chairmen in the House, would probably get the position, noting he is term-limited in his current committee post. "He only has one more year at (Transportation and Infrastructure)," said the operative.
