Ending a struggle that easily could have gotten ugly, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman John Dingell have settled their feud. Looks like Pelosi has agreed to make the special committee all bark, no bite:

In a new letter [PDF] to Pelosi, Dingell wrote that the select committee has no legislative authority and that the panel will expire on Oct. 30, 2008. Dingell also wrote that he has "assurances" from Pelosi that his committee will get first dibs to call witnesses where there could be potential conflict and that Pelosi will be consulted "before the exercise of any compulsory powers by the select committee to ensure the appropriate coordination of efforts."

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And by "appropriate coordination of efforts," I mean you won’t pants me in public.

It will be fun to watch the interplay of these committees as things heat up.

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