The report became a liability for the incumbent Republican, Peter Roskam, who had received campaign contributions from the American Chemistry Council. Many of them said that, beyond addressing climate change and other science-related issues, they wanted to bring a more scientific mind-set to Congress. For the last six years, the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology was led by Lamar Smith, a Texas Republican with no scientific background. Mr. Smith has now retired, and four other Republicans on the committee were not re-elected. Ms. Johnson said in an interview that she had invited the new scientists to join, though committee assignments may not be finalized for several weeks.

Source: New York Times January 13, 2019 09:56 UTC