Excerpt By Alex Byers and Kate Tummarell:
A subcommittee gavel also would further grease the skids for Issa, who many expect to be in line for the full committee chairmanship once Goodlatte’s tenure is up in four years. Next year, he’ll be the fifth-most senior Republican on the panel, but three of the four lawmakers ahead of him have already served as the Judiciary Chairman.
The IP subcommittee chairmanship “is high profile, it gives him a real chance to legislate,” said Andrew Shore, a former chief of staff to the House Republican Conference and a partner at Jochum Shore & Trossevin, which focuses on technology lobbying.
Aside from Issa, Pennsylvania Rep. Tom Marino (R) — the current vice chair of the subcommittee — has thrown his hat into the ring. He’s got the backing of outgoing chairman Rep. Howard Coble (R-N.C.) and is a key member of a new crop of lawmakers focusing on intellectual property. But he doesn’t have Issa’s seniority or name-recognition.
Issa may give a brief glimpse into what his tenure atop the IP subcommittee could be like next week, when he and Goodlatte jointly chair a hearing on oversight of the Patent and Trademark Office on Tuesday.
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