Representative Henry Waxman today deposed longtime chairman John Dingell as the chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Dingell is one of the strongest supporters of the big three on the Hill, and has clashed with Waxman as well as the Speaker on numerous occasions. From the Washington Post:

On a 137-122 vote, Waxman dethroned Dingell from a post he has held as either chairman or ranking Democrat since 1981. He is the most prominent supporter of his home state’s auto industry and has feuded with junior committee members, including Waxman, over efforts to impose fuel efficiency standards on cars.

“Seniority is important, but it should not be a grant of property rights to be chairman for three decades or more,” Waxman told reporters after the vote.

The powerful committee, which has jurisdiction over health care, energy issues and telecommunications policy, will play a significant role in Obama’s agenda in the 111th Congress, a point that Waxman’s campaign drove home in the last two weeks. He argued that Dingell would be an impediment to all kind of legislation the new White House wants to push.

Dingell has fought CAFE standards, and had all sorts of battles with fellow party members over other issues as well. Last year Speaker Pelosi created a special committee of the House chaired by Ed Markey to deal with global warming issues. That led to a clash with Dingell on procedural grounds. As I mentioned in an earlier post on this subject the invisible hand of Speaker Pelosi was at work here, and maybe that hand was not as invisible as she thought.

Senior Democrats were stunned by the Waxman victory, which seemingly dealt a blow to the party’s long-held principle of seniority. “It’s just been buried,” Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.), chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, said of seniority.

Despite House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s public neutrality in the race, Rangel accused her of tacitly supporting Waxman because her closest allies in the House ran his campaign and she did not intervene to stop Waxman, a home-state colleague, from running a campaign that exposed ideological fissures among Democrats.

“I assume that not playing a role is playing a role,” Rangel said.

The Speaker named Dingell Chairman Emeritus, which I believe is what they name horses with broken legs.

Dingell, who recently had knee-replacement surgery and has been in a wheelchair, did not speak to reporters after losing the vote. Pelosi named him chairman emeritus, an undefined title. It is unclear what actual authority he will have.

It actually is pretty clear how much authority he will have, and it ain’t much! The Big Three are not having a good week.