President Bush nominated House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Christopher Cox (R-California) to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission following the resignation of the current chairman. Cox's new position will leave an open chairmanship when he departs next month. Whoever fills the position will be responsible for continuing to shape the newly permanent committee. Cox pushed hard last year to make the select committee permanent in the face of opposition by several other chairmen such as House Judiciary Committee Chairman F. James Sensenbrenner (R-Wisconsin), House Commerce and Energy Committee Chairman Joe Barton (R-Texas), and House T & I Committee Chairman Don Young (R-Alaska).

Assuming Cox is approved by the Senate, House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Illinois) will make a recommendation for chairman to the House Steering Committee. Typically, the choice to fill the chairmanship would be made from among the committee members with the most seniority. However, under House GOP caucus rules seniority is not the controlling factor.

Young is the "ranking Republican" on the panel and he would have to give up his chairmanship of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, which expires at the end of the congress. Young narrowly missed being named vice chairman of the committee in February, but was a prominent critic of the effort to create a new homeland security panel.

That leaves third-ranking Rep. Lamar S. Smith (R-Texas), fourth-ranking Rep. Curt Weldon (R-Pennsylvania), who is vice chairman of the homeland security committee, and fifth-ranking Rep. Christopher Shays (R-Connecticut) who has already pulled himself out of the running.

Hastert could also recommend someone who does not currently sit on the Homeland Security Committee.