Fort Worth Rep. Kay Granger wants to chair the powerful House Appropriations Committee next year.

She is currently the fourth most senior member on the committee. Its current chairman, Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen, R-N.J., announced plans to retire at the end of his term Monday.

Granger, a Republican, currently chairs the committee’s defense subcommittee.

“Since Chairman Frelinghuysen announced his retirement, people have been encouraging me to seek the Appropriations Committee gavel,” Granger said in a statement Monday. “This is a very challenging time for our country, and Chairman Frelinghuysen will leave tough shoes to fill. I will work hard to earn the support of my colleagues, and I look forward to a spirited race.”

Granger could face off against Agriculture Subcommittee Chairman Robert Aderholt of Alabama and Energy andWater Subcommittee Chairman Mike Simpson of Idaho.

The vote won’t occur until after the 2018 midterms, when the party in control of the House will decide who leads its committees. Democrats need a net gain of 24 GOP-held seats to retake the House.

Even if Republicans lose control of the chamber, being the party’s top representative on the appropriations committee would still be a coup for Granger.

Roles on the appropriations committee are coveted positions among lawmakers in Washington, who can use them to direct funding to projects in their home districts.

Granger’s Fort Worth-based Congressional district includes Lockheed Martin’s F-35 assembly plant. Her subcommittee controls about half of the current appropriations committee’s total spending.

Two women, Reps. Susan Brooks, R-Ind., and Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., currently chair House committees, the House Ethics Committee and Education and Workforce committee, respectively. A third, Rep. Diane Black, R-Tenn., stepped down as chair of the House Budget Committee to run for governor this year.

Granger is the only Republican woman Texas has sent to the U.S. House.

She served as mayor of Fort Worth from 1991 to 1995, and was elected to Congress in 1996. She served as vice chair of the Republican Conference from 2007 to 2009.