Rep. Cedric Richmond set to join House Ways and Means Committee

Rep. Cedric Richmond (D-La.) — national co-chair of Joe Biden’s presidential campaign and a former Congressional Black Caucus chair — is set to join the powerful House Ways and Means Committee.

Richmond is poised to fill the seat left vacant by the late Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), a civil rights leader and senior member of the tax-writing panel who died in July. The committee has jurisdiction over tax, trade and health issues.

The Louisiana Democrat has been recommended by the House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee to serve on panel. The full Democratic Caucus still needs to approve the assignment.

“Congressman Cedric Richmond is a proven leader in our Caucus, whose vision and expertise will be essential to promote fairness in our tax system and secure economic justice and financial security for millions of hard-working families,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said in a statement.

Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal (D-Mass.) added that “John Lewis’s shoes are impossible to fill, but I know that Rep. Richmond will honor Congressman Lewis’s legacy and commitment to justice as he takes on this new responsibility.”

Richmond has been a member of Congress since 2011, and has been serving on the House Judiciary and Homeland Security committees. He led the Congressional Black Caucus from 2017 to 2019 and is currently the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation. 

He endorsed Biden shortly after the former vice president announced his presidential run, and was named co-chair of the campaign in May 2019.