Rep. Goodlatte Continues Atop House Judiciary Committee

Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) has been reelected by the House Republican Caucus to chair the House Judiciary Committee.

The committee oversees some communications issues, particularly related to copyright and intellectual property, splitting oversight with the House Energy & Commerce Committee, whose new chair is Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.) (outgoing E&C chair Fred Upton (R-Mich.) was term limited).

"Chairman Goodlatte has been a steady hand guiding the House Judiciary Committee through some of Congress’s most intricate and complex legislation," said fellow committee member Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.). "Under his strong leadership, the Committee has pursued an ambitious agenda, accomplishing significant, bipartisan legislative achievements. I look forward to working with him and the Committee in the new Congress.”

In other committee election news, as legislators pick leadership for the new Congress seated in January, Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) was unanimously elected by his Democratic colleagues to remain ranking member of the House Energy & Commerce Committee.

“I’m honored that my Democratic colleagues have once again elected me to serve as the Ranking Member of the Energy and Commerce Committee,” Pallone said in a statement. “As we prepare for a new Congress and the new Trump administration, I’m committed to working with all of my House colleagues to develop and push policies that will help build a stronger economy, create more good-paying jobs and protect consumers."

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.