3 policy heavyweights endangered by redistricting

Members of both parties have yet to reckon with one inevitable consequence of the redistricting fight that’s rippling across the country — the loss of years of policy expertise on Capitol Hill.

While many of the lawmakers at risk of losing their seats in the redistricting wars have only a few years under their belt, several senior lawmakers who have spent decades building their legislative portfolios and climbing the ranks of the most powerful House committees are also now seeing their political futures threatened.

They include Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Va.), who aims to be the next chair of the Armed Services Committee, and Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Calif.), an appropriations “cardinal” who oversees funds for the military and defense agencies.

And then there’s Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas), a vocal progressive and the second-most senior Democrat on the Ways and Means Committee, who is choosing to retire rather than compete against his younger colleague, rising progressive star Greg Casar.

The departure of any one of these members would go beyond simply scrambling party ratios and potentially determining the House majority in the 2026 midterms; their displacement would impact the ideological makeups of their respective committees and leave gaping knowledge voids.

Here’s how a House without Doggett, Calvert and Wittman could change how Congress approaches taxation, health, defense and national security.

A progressive policy voice

Doggett has spent 50 years in politics and three decades in the House. As the top Democrat on the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health, the Austin-area lawmaker is known for his attacks on corporate influence over politics and the machinations of Big Pharma, and worked to end lower tax rates for American companies that offshore their profits.

And as the second-most-senior Democrat on the committee, Doggett also has a reputation for representing the interests of progressives on a panel stacked with moderates. He has over the years been one of the only Democratic tax writers willing to privately challenge Ways and Means ranking member Richard Neal (D-Mass.), who has been criticized at times for being too close to special interests.

“He’s been sort of a lone voice fighting against Big Pharma, against [pharmacy benefit managers], against Medicare Advantage, against price-gouging,” said fellow committee member Don Beyer (D-Va.) in an interview. “He’s never hesitated to disagree with Richie, too … Lloyd doesn’t just roll over.”

Doggett, in an interview, recalled efforts to amend drug pricing legislation authored by then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi during a 2019 committee markup, ignoring instructions from leadership not to do so.

“I offered amendments that were opposed and defeated by Chairman Neal … to extend coverage to the uninsured,” said Doggett. “The committee’s position was that it had to be done just the way Pelosi submitted it.”

Asked for comment, a Neal spokesperson referred to the lawmaker’s statement at the time of Doggett’s retirement, which recognized the Texan as “a bulldog in the fight for the little guy.”

Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), the former chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, recalled in an interview that Doggett helped keep the Democrats’ signature party-line legislation of 2022 from straying too far to the middle.

“Lloyd was our leader on Ways and Means, definitely around billionaire taxes and stock buybacks,” she said. “He’s willing to stand up to party leadership, which is often necessary on that committee and, in general, on some of these tax issues.”

A defense appropriations guru

California’s redistricting plans have set the stage for a contentious primary fight between GOP Reps. Ken Calvert and Young Kim. It has many Republicans openly fretting about the implications of losing Calvert, who has spent two-and-a-half decades working on defense policy on Capitol Hill.

A fellow California Republican, Rep. Darrell Issa, was caught on hot mic in early Decembersaying Kim should step aside and consider a position in the administration because “with Ken, we need him exactly where he is.”

Another defense appropriator, Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.), said in a recent interview that “for the national security of the United States, it’s hard to find somebody who is more important than Ken Calvert. … He knows defense, the intricacies, the details like nobody — like nobody.”

Calvert’s expertise is so revered he obtained a waiver from House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole (R-Okla.) to serve beyond his term limit as the head of the Defense subcommittee in the current Congress; he’s not likely to get a waiver for the next one.

Still, colleagues say Calvert is regarded as an institutional encyclopedia on defense spending matters, regularly citing data points from his vast knowledge of military history, the history of weapons systems, various bureaucracies within the defense sphere and the strategies of rival world powers.

Calvert has also taken the lead on infusing new money into defense programs focused on innovative weapons and logistics systems, launching a $100 million dollar initiative in 2022 to speed up the production and acquisition of cutting-edge military technology.

“He’s got institutional knowledge that is very rare. There’s only a few members who have that much time in the House,” said Defense subcommittee vice chair Jake Ellzey (R-Texas) in an interview. “And that institutional knowledge is irreplaceable, unless you get somebody who’s been working it that long, and there’s nobody that even comes close.”

Calvert, in a statement, called himself “uniquely qualified to work with the Trump Administration” as “a senior member of the Appropriations Committee and having worked in this space for many years.”

An advocate for Virginia’s defense community

Wittman, who was first elected in 2007, has long been eyeing the opportunity to ascend to the top GOP position on the House Armed Services Committee once the current chair, Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), completes his three-term tenure at the end of 2026. The Virginia Republican has held leadership roles across multiple subcommittees and now presides over the Tactical Air & Land Forces subpanel.

“[He is] very knowledgeable, carries himself very well, very well respected,” said Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R-Fla.), a member of Wittman’s subcommittee, in an interview.

But Wittman’s seat has been a top target of Democrats’ mid-decade redistricting plans, which could result in making the 1st Congressional District much bluer.

Wittman has been a fierce advocate of his state’s shipbuilding industry — which is responsible for producing aircraft carriers and a fleet of nuclear-attack submarines — and sees the equipment as critical to the U.S. military’s readiness for potential conflict with China in the Pacific.

One House GOP aide who works on national security issues, granted anonymity to speak candidly, argued that Democrats’ targeting of Wittman in its proposed redistricting map is risky for the future of Virginia’s defense infrastructure and industry at large.

The aide speculated that the Trump administration could someday slow the construction of aircraft carriers in light of questions about their efficacy in modern warfare or even target bases in Virginia for realignment and closure.

“They’re taking a gamble,” the aide said of Democratic attempts to unseat a champion of the state’s defense industry with influence and seniority. “They’re trading political dominance for potential irrelevance in the defense sphere.”

Abigail Gost, a spokesperson for Wittman, said that the congressman has no plans to leave Congress and “believes continuity and experience matter — especially at a time of heightened global instability and rapid change”

Connor O’Brien contributed to this report.