York County Republican named chair of House investigative committee with subpoena powers

On Thursday, Republican leadership named York County Rep. Seth Grove chair of a new state House committee tasked with looking into Pennsylvania’s executive branch at the behest of lawmakers.

The nine-member House Oversight Committee was created in January as part of the chamber’s new rules and has subpoena power to request information from state agencies.

The committee consists of five Republicans and four Democrats. The Democratic minority includes three members of the chamber’s leadership, including Whip Jordan Harris, while Republican membership is made up of rank-and-file members.

Grove told the Capital-Star he doesn’t have any targets for a first inquiry in mind, adding that the committee needs to get staff and procedure set before digging into a report.

“We are a little way off from doing an investigation,” he said.

R Members:
Chair Seth Grove
Todd Stephens
Eric Nelson
John Lawrence
Tarah Toohil

D Members:
Vice Chair Matt Bradford
Jordan Harris
Joanna McClinton
Kevin Boyle

— Stephen Caruso (@StephenJ_Caruso) February 21, 2019

The Oversight Committee joins the Appropriations and Ethics Committees as panels with permanent subpoena powers.