This Fort Worth lawmaker will oversee federal spending. Will it help North Texas?

U.S. Rep. Kay Granger’s new role of appropriations chairwoman could bode well for Texas and the Fort Worth area.

While her purview is funding the entire federal government, having someone local in charge of federal dollars can’t hurt when it comes to ensuring North Texas and state federal funding priorities are addressed, experts and lawmakers say.

“Being in a position to shape that appropriations bill and to basically have the final sign off is a big deal, and so definitely it will make a difference in terms of North Texas and in terms of Texas as a whole,” said U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, a Texas Republican.

Granger, a Fort Worth Republican, was officially tapped Tuesday to lead the powerful House Appropriations Committee. The role was expected, given Granger’s seniority and her place as ranking member during the previous session of Congress, when Democrats controlled the House.

Now with Republicans narrowly making up a majority in the lower chamber, it is Granger’s turn to take the lead on overseeing federal spending — a position that will require her to navigate, at times, rocky political waters.

With a near even split in the House and Democrats controlling the Senate, bipartisanship will be key and negotiations necessary to ensure appropriations legislation gets across the finish line and to the president’s desk.

“It’s very important that we work together and that we make responsible decisions,” said Granger, who is the first Republican woman to hold the title of appropriations chair. “These are hardworking taxpayers’ money and we can’t forget that.”

But the divides in Congress go beyond party, as demonstrated by the House speaker vote earlier this month. What was supposed to be an easy task stretched to 15 votes, as Republicans were divided over who to pick as chair, ultimately electing California Republican Kevin McCarthy.

The thin margins in the House between the number of Republicans and Democrats — margins that give some of the most conservative lawmakers bolstered power — are already causing problems, Cornyn said in a Jan. 4 interview conducted as the standoff over who should be speaker dragged on.

“That’s not going to get any easier,” Cornyn said. “That may indeed get harder. But I think it gives us a lot more leverage than we had when Democrats controlled both houses. So, I think she can still have a very significant impact on the final outcome, even with thin majorities, because she will be in that position of leadership on the Appropriations Committee.”

Granger’s plans for Appropriations Committee

Granger is well acquainted with the appropriations committee. Her decades-long House career includes serving as ranking member — the top Republican member of the committee — during the past two sessions of Congress. Before her first term in Congress in 1997, she was Fort Worth mayor from 1991 to 1995.

Granger said a first priority is looking at “tremendous spending” in the last few weeks that has caused her concern.

The House in late December passed a $1.7 trillion spending package, just avoiding a government shutdown. It includes $45 billion to aid Ukraine, as well as more than $850 billion for military spending and more than $770 billion for domestic programs. Granger opposed the legislation, citing its size and scope.

“Instead of reflecting the economic realities we face, the package of bills before us represents continued spending in areas that have already received large increases,” Granger said at the time. “Second, this omnibus package bails out the administration for many of their self-inflicted wounds on issues like the border crisis and the energy crisis.

“In closing, I am disappointed that I am unable to support this bill that funds our nation’s military at the authorized level,” she said. “But, the excess spending on non-defense programs in this bill is just too much to gain my support.”

Granger also wants the process to be more collaborative.

“In some of that toward the end, in my position, I didn’t see any of it or have it discussed with me, and I just think it’s one of the things that is important to the Congress is that we work in a way that is bipartisan,” she said.

Spending reductions are likely in order, but Granger — fresh into her new role — said she needs a bit more time to examine where they can be made.

When it comes to funding priorities, national defense is at the top for Granger, who was the first Republican woman to sit on the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee — a subcommittee she’d later go on to chair.

“There is no bigger responsibility than ensuring that we have a strong defense,” Granger said. “That is just always. Always has been. Always will be.”

It’s an issue that’s close to home.

“I come from Fort Worth, Texas,” she said. “It was once a fort. But they also have major defense contractors in Texas and particularity in Fort Worth, so I want to make sure that we have adequate funding.”

Federal contractors in North Texas include Bell and Lockheed Martin, as well as subcontractors that supply them.

National defense funding is also a priority for Rep. Jake Ellzey, a Waxahachie Republican who on Wednesday was named a member of the committee. Rep. Michael Cloud, a Victoria Republican who was among those to oppose McCarthy for speaker, is another new addition.

Rep. Jodey Arrington, a Lubbock Republican, will serve as chair of the House Budget Committee, putting another Texan in a financial leadership role.

“We’re going to run a very tight ship,” Ellzey said. “There’s going to be some hard decisions that have to be made, as there always are in times of fiscal restraint, a likely looming recession and $32 trillion in debt with ballooning interests costs.”

“She’s good at this,” he continued. “She’s the perfect person to have the in appropriations while partnering with Jodey Arrington.”

And while many view her position as a positive for Texas, Granger stressed she is looking nationwide as she carries out her duties of appropriations chair.

What could Granger’s leadership role mean for North Texas?

Granger may be able to put her mark on congressionally directed spending — money earmarked for specific state and local projects, said Michael Thorning, the director of governance for the Bipartisan Policy Center, a Washington-based think tank.

It’s not a huge pot of money compared to the budget as a whole, but the dollars can be significant for local projects, whether it is a flood mitigation project, a medical center or another project, Thorning said. The funds are distributed fairly evenly among congressional members, so it’s not as if she or any other appropriator will get more funds, he said. But Granger will have a key role in shaping things like how many requests and what types of requests can be made.

“That could really shape what kinds of projects ultimately are able to get money,” Thorning said.

Representatives in Congress are there to represent both their district and the country as a whole, said Rep. Jasmine Crockett, a freshman Dallas Democrat who represents a small part of east Tarrant County.

“But at the end of the day, the things that you’re going to be more familiar with, the things that you’re most likely going to be more passionate about, are going to be those things in your backyard,” Crockett said.

Ellzey, whose district includes part of east Tarrant County, noted the need for border security funding and money for highway improvements — Fort Worth is among the fastest growing cities in the country. Fort Worth Democrat Marc Veasey also noted needed infrastructure improvements, from light rail and commuter rail projects to more traditional road projects and airport funding.

“As our region continues to grow, so will the needs of the citizenry,” Veasey said.

Appropriation chair, at a high level, will play a role in determining how much money different areas of the government have to work with and will be critical for negotiations between the House and Senate, Thorning said. He anticipates differences in philosophy between House Republicans and Senate Democrats on how much the government should spend and the size and scope of federal government.

Granger is perceived in Congress as someone who can work across the aisle and build relationships, he said.

“That’s a characteristic that you cannot get that far without,” Thorning said. “I think ultimately appropriators tend to be very practical people who are looking for a way to get to ‘yes,’ and I think that includes Rep. Granger.”

There was bipartisan support from Tarrant County representatives for Granger serving as chair.

“Anytime you’re in a leadership position in Congress, you can make really good things happen, not just for your district, but for the entire region,” said Veasey.

Veasey worked with Granger to secure funding to support Panther Island. The lawmakers in January announced that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has allocated $403 million for a 1.5 mile bypass channel as part of the Central City Flood Control Project. Granger has long championed the project, though she voted against the infrastructure bill that sourced the funds.

She defended the decision during a news conference, noting that she supported the project but not the bill in its entirety. Before that in November 2021, she called the bill a “liberal wish list” that went beyond traditional infrastructure projects like roads and bridges and said it would grow national debt.

“I think that’s where Kay, sort of, puts on her previous hat as our city’s mayor,” Veasey said. Adding, “She kind of takes it and she looks at it from a very local perspective.”

Beyond North Texas, Cornyn hopes Granger’s committee chair role will mean the avoidance of “the ugly and unnecessary process of omnibus appropriations bills” — bills that combine multiple funding packages into one larger package.

“That doesn’t serve anybody’s interest except for the leadership who are the few people who actually get to shape that bill, and then the rest of us are left to vote ‘Yes’ or ‘No’,” Cornyn said. Later adding that Granger being chairwoman could “restore some transparency and some order to the appropriations process.”

The committee plans to send appropriations proposals formed in 12 subcommittees to the full House floor and then to the Senate for consideration as separate packages.

“We are signaling to the Senate that if they sit on these bills, and then try to cobble together an omnibus spending bill, we’re not going to play,” Ellzey said.