U.S. Rep. Michael Rulli is getting his dream committee assignment: a seat on Energy and Commerce.

“I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to join the Energy and Commerce Committee,” said Rulli, R-Salem. “Energy extraction is critical to the economy of the 6th District and I look forward to working with (incoming) Chairman (Brett) Guthrie to increase production, lower costs for consumers and strengthen grid resilience.”

During an interview with The Vindicator on June 11, after he won a special election for the congressional district seat that night, Rulli said he hoped to get appointed to the House Energy and Commerce Committee or Ways and Means, but said he realized he probably didn’t have seniority yet for those assignments.

The House Republican Steering Committee announced Rulli would get a seat on Energy and Commerce starting with the new session next month.

Rulli currently sits on the House Judiciary Committee, and the House Education and Workforce Committee.

Rulli will lose one of those assignments with a decision made in the next week or two, said Graham Lescallette, his deputy chief of staff.

The 11-county 6th District is an energy center producing 90% of Ohio’s natural gas and more than 80% of the state’s gas-fired load electrical power.

The district’s most-populous county is Mahoning and stretches south to Washington County along the Ohio River and west to parts of Stark and Tuscarawas counties.

In addition to energy, the committee oversees telecommunications, food and drug safety, public health policy, and interstate and foreign commerce.

Rulli replaced Republican Bill Johnson, who resigned Jan. 21 to become Youngstown State University president after 13 years in Congress. Johnson was a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee and was chairman of its Subcommittee on Environment, Manufacturing and Critical Materials before his resignation.