Speaker Arnold I. Palacios, R-Saipan, said Hocog automatically assumes the post in the absence of Rep. Ray N. Yumul, R-Saipan, an Army Reservist who will be deployed to the Middle East.
Hocog, Ind.-Rota, is the vice chairman of Ways & Means which Yumul chairs.
Yumul and other Reservists throughout the U.S. and its territories were mobilized again to active duty this month for deployment to Kuwait and other parts of the Middle East for at least a year.
Palacios said the House leadership will discuss the issue of whether Hocog can chair two major committees.
With barely two months left in fiscal year 2008, the House has yet to pass a new budget for FY 2009 which begins on Oct. 1.
The cash-strapped government is still operating on the revised FY 2007 budget of $163.5 million.
For the incoming year, the administration is proposing a budget of $158.4 million.
