Buchanan Opts Out of Running for Ways and Means Chair Spot (1)

House Ways and Means Committee Vice Chair Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.) said he won’t challenge Chair Jason Smith (R-Mo.) for the committee’s gavel next Congress.

As chair of the panel’s Health subcommittee and vice chair of the committee itself, “I’ve got my plate full,” Buchanan said in an interview Thursday. “And I’ve got 10 grandkids and two Goldendoodles—I’m just out of time.”

Smith was picked over Buchanan and Nebraska GOP Rep. Adrian Smith to lead Ways and Means in 2023. It was rumored that Buchanan might challenge Smith for the committee in the next Congress beginning in January, when Ways and ...