Issa Takes Top Committee Spot

An electronics industry veteran-turned-Congressman is getting set to take on an important new role in the House of Representatives.

According to the Washington Post, Rep. Darrell Issa of California, the founder of Directed Electronics and a former CEA Board Chairman, will become the ranking Republican member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee in the new Congress next year. This role, according to the Post's Federal Eye blog, will put Issa in position to become "the chief GOP watchdog on the Obama administration."

Issa, the Post reported, dismissed 10-15 staffers this week in preparation for the change. Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-N.Y.) is the chairman of the committee; Rep. Tom Davis of Virginia, who is retiring from Congress, was the ranking Republican previously.