House GOP Revokes Punishment for Lawmaker Who Defied Leaders

House Republican leaders have handed a subcommittee gavel back to a defiant colleague days after revoking it in an act of party discipline.

Republican Jason Chaffetz of Utah heads the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. He says he reconsidered his decision to oust Rep. Mark Meadows of North Carolina as chairman of the Government Operations subcommittee.

Chaffetz says he and Meadows have spoken and understand each other better now.

Chaffetz punished Meadows after Meadows and nearly three dozen other Republicans angered party leaders on a vote about the rules for debating a trade bill.

House Speaker John Boehner supported Chaffetz' initial decision as part of a larger move to discipline the GOP's sometimes unruly right flank. But conservatives in and out of Congress complained loudly.