From Staff Reports 

WASHINGTON — Rep. Mark Meadows, R-Cashiers, who had been stripped of a subcommittee chairmanship after voting against his party’s wishes on trade legislation, was reinstated in late June.

Meadows said June 25 that he greatly appreciates Rep. Jason Chaffetz’s willingness to reconsider the decision to remove him as chairman of the House Oversight Committee’s Government Operations Subcommittee.

The move, made a week earlier by Chaffetz, a Utah Republican who chairs the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, was apparently in response to Meadows taking a procedural vote against trade legislation supported by GOP leadership.

After his reinstatement, Meadows said June 25 that he will “continue to vote and conduct myself in accordance with my conscience, what my constituents want me to do, and what is best for the country.”

After speaking with Meadows several times during the week, Chaffetz said that “I think we both better understand each other.

“I respect Mark and his approach,” Chaffetz said. “The discussions and candor have been healthy and productive. Ultimately, I believe we both want to do what is best for the country. Obviously I believe in Mark Meadows or I would not have appointed him to this position in the first place. It is in the best interest of the committee to move forward together. Therefore, I have asked Mark to continue in his role as subcommittee chairman.”

Regarding the Meadows dust-up, House Speaker John A. Boehner, R-Ohio, said June 25 at his weekly news conference that “like any family, we have little squabbles from time to time.”