Michigan Congressman John Dingell lost his position as chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee to California Congressman Henry Waxman today, after a vote among Democrats in Congress.

The move sent shockwaves through Washington, D.C., because it upended what was a fairly stable system of determining committee chairmanships based on seniority.  Although votes in Democratic caucus meetings are considered private, Iowa Congressman Bruce Braley took a more public role in the deliberations, delivering one of several nominating speeches for Waxman, reportedly “lashing out” at Dingell.

The Politico reports:

Waxman was generally respectful of Dingell in his speech before the caucus, according to people who were in the room, but he took a few sharp jabs at the chairman. Iowa Rep. Bruce Braley, who gave one of Waxman’s nominating speeches, went a step further, lashing out at Dingell for standing in the way of environmental reforms. He even complained that the speaker had to go around him to enact a renewable energy bill during the Democrats’ first year in power.

Braley has a seat on the powerful House Oversight Committee, which Waxman has led to a position of prominence as chairman.