WASHINGTON — Two Southwest Ohio Republican congressmen have won key leadership positions in the new Congress.

        Rep. John Boehner, R-West Chester, was selected by fellow Republicans to be chairman of the House Education and Workforce Com mittee. The committee has jurisdiction over all education and labor issues.

Boehner

        Meanwhile, House Speaker Dennis Hastert of Illinois named Rep. Rob Portman, R-Terrace Park, as chairman of the leadership, a new position.

        Mr. Portman will manage priorities for the GOP leadership and be the principal point man with House Democrats and the Bush administration.

        Another Ohio Republican congressman, Rep. Michael Oxley of Findlay, was named chairman of the new House Financial Services Committee, which will have authority over banking, insurance and securities.

        Mr. Boehner's elevation to chairman of the House Education and the Workforce Committee is a key assignment, given President-elect George W. Bush's intention to make education a legislative priority.

        Republicans, who control the House, made their chairmanship choices after weeks of private meetings and backroom intrigue. Speaker Hastert appointed Mr. Portman on his own authority.

        “With a new president and a new atmosphere in Washington, the committee has a chance to enact positive reforms that will improve opportunities for Americans at every stage of life,” said Mr. Boehner.

        Mr. Oxley had sought to lead the House Commerce Committee in a tense contest against Rep. W.J. “Billy” Tauzin, R-La.

        Republican leaders opted to give Mr. Tauzin the Commerce Committee, but switched its authority over insurance and securities issues to a new Financial Services Committee, formerly the banking committee.

        In other leadership positions, Rep. Bill Thomas of California will preside over the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee.

        Mr. Thomas, sworn in Wednesday for his 12th term in the House, has concentrated more on Medicare and health care than on taxes in recent years.

        Rep. Jim Nussle of Iowa won a three-way competition to become chairman of the Budget Committee, where spending priorities are set.

        Rep. Bud Shuster, sworn in on Tuesday for his 15th term, announced less than 24 hours later he would resign his seat on Jan. 31. A fierce advocate for highway and other transportation programs, Mr. Shuster lost his power perch at the end of last year when term limits required him to surrender the chairmanship of the transportation committee. His last years in office have also been marred by scandal, including a 2000 House ethics committee report that cited him for “serious official misconduct.”

        As expected, Rep. Tauzin, a Democrat-turned Republican, was tapped to head the Commerce Committee, one of the most powerful panels in the House.

        Rep. James Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin was named to chair the Judiciary Committee. Rep. Henry Hyde of Illinois, finishing six years as chairman of that panel, moves over to become head of the Committee on International Relations.

        Rep. Bob Stump of Arizona was named to chair the committee with control over defense issues.

        The GOP leaders presented Mr. Thomas and other chairman-designates ratification by the rank and file at the same time Republican and Democratic leaders across the Capitol held private talks over power-sharing in a Senate divided 50-50 for the first time in history.

        Several Senate sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Democratic leader Tom Daschle and Republican leader Trent Lott had discussed giving the two parties equal representation on at least some committees. But these officials cautioned that no final agreements had been sealed.
       

        The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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