New solon seeks seat on Appropriations U.S. Rep.-elect Frank Mrvan (D) is seeking a coveted seat on the House Committee on Appropriations, a tough ask for a freshman — we couldn’t find any majority freshmen who were appointed to the panel in 2019 — but perhaps made easier by the fact that two of the prior three members who have held his CD 01 seat also had earned a seat on Appropriations. That roster includes former U.S. Rep. Adam Benjamin (D), who was awarded a seat on the panel in his first term. Retiring U.S. Rep. Pete Visclosky (D), first elected in 1984, didn’t land a seat on Appropriations until after he won re-election in 1990, but the former Benjamin aide (Mrvan himself also once also worked for Visclosky) rose to become an appropriations cardinal. Recognizing the difficulty of the lift, after making his case for the spending panel, Outgoing North Township Trustee Mrvan writes in his request letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) that he would, in the alternative, prefer to serve on the House Committee on Education and Labor — which would be a key assignment for a member hailing from a district with a strong contingent of organized labor — whose help (particularly the Steelworkers) was critical to his June primary nomination.