By Rachel Bade (Politico) –
Senior House appropriator Kay Granger was furious.
As the fight over who will lead the House Appropriations Committee heated up, Rep. Tom Graves, a young, ambitious Georgia Republican, was once again using the majority leader’s office to court member support. Granger, a longtime appropriator also vying for the position, was seen as the favorite for the job — until Graves came along.
So at a meeting with Kevin McCarthy this summer, Granger, a Texas Republican, asked McCarthy to halt Graves’ use of his office in his bid to jump over her, a more seasoned member of the panel. Rank-and-file, after all, were whispering that Graves‘ use of McCarthy’s leadership conference rooms suggested a subtle endorsement from the California Republican.
“It’s very inappropriate,” Granger told McCarthy, according to sources familiar with the situation.