Graves gone, staff remains

Friday is the deadline for students to submit service academy applications.

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Northwest Georgia’s U.S. Rep. Tom Graves, R-ranger, left his seat vacant when he resigned Oct. 4 — but the staff of the 14th Congressional District office remain on the job.

Duties are still being carried out under supervision of the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives. They include constituent casework, to include help in handling business with government departments; providing general status updates on pending legislation; and to offer other basic constituent services.

The office phone numbers remain the same: 706-2901776 in Rome; 706-226-5320 in Dalton; and 202-225-5211 in Washington, D.C.

Currently, the congressional district does not have voting representation, and the office can’t offer analysis or advocate positions of public policy.

The annual military service academy nomination process, however, is on track, with a deadline for applications set for 5 p.m. Friday. The process opened on Aug. 1 when Graves was still in office.

Students who are interested in applying can call the Dalton office or email Tracey Bartley at Tracey. Bartley@ mail. house. gov. A PDF of the application is available with this report on the Rn-t.com website.

An independent advisory board will review the applications and determine who to interview. From those interviews the board determines who to nominate.

The candidate list that will be recommended by the selection board for nominations will be shared with the newly elected member of Congress after Jan. 3.

Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene is expected to win the seat in the Nov. 3 election after Democrat Kevin Van Ausdal withdrew due to family issues.