GOP Steering Committee Names Picks for Contested House Chairmanships

January 9, 2023 TruthUSA

The Republican Steering Committee named its picks for four contested chairmanships on Jan. 9.

The committee is composed of several regional representatives who make determinations on committee assignments, including who receives the top spot on a committee. The steering committee announced the winners of uncontested chairmanship bids in December, but held off on making picks for contested seats.

Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) is on the committee and has an inordinate influence, with his vote counting for four. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) gets two votes. The other lawmakers on the panel of around 30 members get one.

The four contested chairmanship positions were for the Homeland Security Committee, the Ways and Means Committee, the Committee on Budget, and the Education and Workforce Committee. Here’s who will take the top job on each.

Homeland Security

Rep. Mark Green (R-Tenn.) beat Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) for the top job on the Homeland Security Committee.

The vacancy on the panel was created by the retirement of Rep. John Katko (R-N.Y.), one of a handful of House Republicans who voted to impeach President Donald Trump.

After being elected to the top post, Green told reporters that he planned to have two committee staffers working full-time from the U.S.-Mexico border.

The staffers, Green said, will “be sitting there with [Customs and Border Protection], sending us real-time updates on what CBP needs and the issues—whether it’s a big drug bust at the border, we’ll send a bunch of members down for, you know, for that and those kinds of things.”

Homeland Security is one of the most important committees for Republicans moving into the 118th Congress, who have vowed to investigate and seek to slow the influx of illegal immigrants along the southern border.

The committee is expected to ask Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to testify about the massive influx of millions of illegal aliens over the past two years.

Green’s selection for the post over Crenshaw is a win for the conservative wing of the GOP, who demanded more conservative voices on the top panels.

Green said that Crenshaw is one of his “best friends in Congress,” and that beating him was “not easy.”

Ways and Means

Rep. Jason Smith (R-Mo.) was selected in a three-way race for the top spot on the House Ways and Means Committee.

Smith defeated Reps. Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.) and Adrian Smith (R-Neb.) for the seat, which became available after the retirement of the previous panel leader, Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas).

The assignments for the other two panels are still pending.

This is a developing story.