By Josh Voorhees - Fred Upton has yet to secure the Energy and Commerce chairmanship, but that hasn’t stopped the Michigan Republican from acting like he’s already got the gavel in hand. Yesterday, he sent a letter to Steven Chu quizzing the Energy secretary on the details of the roughly $40 billion that last year’s stimulus package sent to DOE and demanding the specific job-creation figures for a half dozen individual grants. In his letter, Upton writes that the White House and congressional De... Read more

Rep. Fred Upton (MI-06) - Voters have spoken. The failed policies of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and President Obama have been soundly rejected. Republicans have a clear mandate to cut the size of government, reduce spending and reverse costly job-killing regulations. The new Republican majority will be different -- we will listen. Pelosi never listened to the American people and she never lived up to her promises. Under the leadership of incoming Speaker John Boehner, Republicans will... Read more

Congressman Fred Upton (R-MI), senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, is seeking answers from Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu on the impact the administration's $800 billion stimulus package had on jobs. Despite repeated claims that the stimulus would keep the nation's unemployment rate below 8 percent, it has remained at or above 9.5 percent for 15 consecutive months. In the letter to Secretary Chu, Upton wrote, "The Obama administration and congressional Democrats ... Read more

Rep. Fred Upton (MI-06) - The voters have spoken. The failed job-killing policies of Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama have been soundly rejected. We have a clear mandate to cut the size of government, reduce spending and reverse costly job-killing regulations. The new Republican majority will be different — we will listen. Pelosi never listened to the American people and she never lived up to her promises. We will do both. This change will be evident from day one at the Energy and Commerce Committe... Read more

Congressman Fred Upton (R-MI), a senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, is contacting members of the Republican Conference to outline his vision as Committee Chairman. Serving the last twelve years as a chairman and ranking member on the Oversight, Communications and Energy subcommittees, Upton has demonstrated steady leadership, knowledge and experience on the major issues confronting the nation. Upton writes, “My vision for the Energy and Commerce Committee is a conservative... Read more

By Grover Norquist and Rep. Fred Upton (MI-06) The federal budget deficits reported in 2009 and 2010 were the highest on record since 1945, according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, approximately $1.4 trillion and $1.3 trillion, respectively. (That’s trillion with a capital T.) Under the Democrats’ one-party reign the last two years, the size of government has exploded and the United States has added an unprecedented $2.7 trillion to the national debt, amounting to nearly $5 bil... Read more

By Ben Geman - A Michigan Republican seeking to chair the House Energy and Commerce Committee is pressing White House energy czar Carol Browner for information about controversial changes her office made to a May Interior Department report on offshore drilling safety. In a letter to Browner Monday, Rep. Fred Upton asked about recent findings by Interior’s inspector general, who concluded that the White House edits left the impression that outside experts consulted on the report had endorsed a si... Read more

By Byron York - There's been a lot of talk about Republican plans to subject the Obama administration to strict oversight once the new GOP House majority takes office. Most of the discussion has focused on Rep. Darrell Issa, head of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, which is the main panel charged with keeping the administration in line. "I'm going to be doing a lot of investigating," says Issa. That's true, but it's also true that some of the most intense action will be elsewher... Read more

By Ben Geman - A Michigan Republican lawmaker is promising to make the White House climate czar a familiar face by repeatedly bringing her in front of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Rep. Fred Upton, who is gunning to chair the powerful panel, vows to end “the free pass of zero-accountability for Obama czars” such as White House energy adviser Carol Browner. “Given her extensive influence within the administration, one would think [current Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry] Waxman woul... Read more

By Rep. Fred Upton (MI-06) “Put nothing in writing, ever,” sounds like a command a veteran CIA official may give to an incoming class of new officers. One would not expect such a directive to issue from one of the President’s trusted advisors, especially from a White House that proudly proclaims itself to be the most transparent in history. But according to various media reports, that “cloak and dagger” tactic was Energy and Climate Change Czar Carol Browner’s underlying rule for auto industry e... Read more