Rep. Schweikert booted from financial panel

By JOHN BRESNAHAN and JAKE SHERMAN | PoliticoRep. David Schweikert has been removed from his seat on the House Financial Services Committee, and aides to the Arizona Republican claim the move was retaliation for voting against House GOP leaders too often.Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and other top Republicans were huddled in a Steering Committee meeting on Monday. That panel, which is controlled in large part by Boehner, decides who sits on the various House committees.“This morning Congressman Schweikert learned there was a price to be paid for voting based on principle. That price was the removal from the House Financial Services Committee,” said Rachel Semmel, Schweikert’s spokesman in a statement to POLITICO.“We are obviously disappointed that Leadership chose to take this course, but Rep. Schweikert remains committed to fighting for the conservative principles that brought him here.”Schweikert — who was en route from Arizona to Capitol Hill on Monday — will now serve on the House Science, Space and Technology Committee.Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.) will replace Schweikert on the Financial Services Committee.Michael Steel, a Boehner spokesman, said a member’s voting record isn’t the sole determinant of his or her committee assignments. “The Steering Committee makes decisions based on a range of factors,” Steel said.A House GOP leadership aide, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said changes most often are made “at the request of committee chairs.”Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas), who had served as House GOP Conference chairman, will take over the gavel at the Financial Services Committee in the next Congress.