House Republican leaders will choose new chairs for a number of influential committees this week, people who will have the power to help deliver on President-elect Trump’s priorities in the GOP trifecta over the next two years.
While most of the committee chair positions are uncontested, several panels have leaders who are departing Congress or are term limited according to internal House GOP rules. Unless granted a waiver, House GOP chairs may not serve more than three consecutive terms atop a committee, in a contrast from the House Democratic Caucus, where some senior leaders have led committees for a decade or more.
The departing chairs have sparked competitive races for important panels, like the Energy and Commerce Committee and Financial Services Committee.
The new chairs will be chosen by members of the House GOP Steering Committee, a panel of more than 30 elected Republican leaders and regional representatives that recommends the chairs to the full House GOP conference for formal approval.
The Steering Committee is hearing presentations from the contenders on Monday and Thursday and is expected to make its selections by the end of Thursday. The full GOP conference will likely rubber-stamp the picks the following week.
Here are the competitive House GOP chair races for the 119th Congress.
Energy and Commerce Committee
Outgoing Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rogers (R-Wash.) declined to seek reelection, setting up a race for the influential panel between Rep. Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.) and Rep. Bob Latta (R-Ohio).
The Energy and Commerce panel has jurisdiction over a broad range of policy issues and federal departments, including health care, the Department of Energy, the Food and Drug Administration, and more.
Latta is set to be the most senior Republican on the committee and has experience on all six of its subcommittees, including stints chairing two subcommittees, on communications and technology and on digital commerce and consumer protection. The 33 bills he has signed into law include measures that aim to expand nuclear fuel programs and boost 5G coverage.
Guthrie, meanwhile, has sat on five of the panel’s six subcommittees, and is chair of its health subcommittee. His top priorities for the next Congress include permitting reform for energy production, and the race to 6G — ensuring the U.S. beats China to the development of the technology. The West Point graduate is also pitching his friendly personality.
Financial Services Committee
With Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) on his way out of Congress, the top job on the House Financial Services Committee is up for grabs — and a quartet of contenders are vying for the gavel.
Reps. Andy Barr (R-Ky.), French Hill (R-Ark.), Frank Lucas (R-Okla.) and Bill Huizenga (R-Mich.) have all jumped into the race to succeed McHenry — who was term-limited — looking to lead the panel that has jurisdiction over Wall Street, the Federal Reserve, federal regulators and cryptocurrency, areas that are sure to be prominent in the second Trump administration.
Barr, the chair of the Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Monetary Policy, has touted a free-market capitalism philosophy, arguing that he is someone who “can build a bridge between those traditional Chamber of Commerce, Wall Street Republicans, and the America First populists who elected Donald Trump.” He is also close with House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.), who has influence on the Steering Committee.
Hill, meanwhile, is the vice chair of the House Financial Services Committee and the chair of its subcommittee on digital assets, financial technology and inclusion. In that role, the Arkansas Republican has become known as a knowledgeable source on cryptocurrency, and he has a bill that would regulate the digital asset.
Lucas, a three-decade veteran of the House, prides himself on being the longest-serving Republican on the Financial Services Committee. In an April statement announcing his bid, the Oklahoman wrote “I am well positioned and well equipped to lead the Committee,” citing his vast experience on Capitol Hill.
Huizenga, the chair of the oversight and investigations subcommittee, has said he wants to “put the economy back on its feet” and “put regulations in place properly rather than the willy-nilly that we’ve seen,” arguing that the chair will have to be “someone who’s going to be able to work with our colleagues in the Senate,” before emphasizing his relationship with Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), who is expected to lead the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
Foreign Affairs Committee
Outgoing House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Michael McCaul (R-Texas) declined to seek a waiver to continue leading the committee, Axios first reported, setting up a four-way race between Reps. Brian Mast (R-Fla.), Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), Ann Wagner (R-Mo.), and Joe Wilson (R-S.C.).
Wagner, the vice chair of the committee, has touted her experience in the foreign affairs sector, including serving as U.S. ambassador to Luxembourg during former President George W. Bush’s administration and co-chair of the Abraham Accords Caucus, which was created to focus on supporting the Trump-era agreement normalizing relations between Israel and Arab States.
If given the gavel, Wagner is vowing to crack down on China and Iran, secure the border and work to “contain Russia’s recklessly dangerous expansion,” her spokesperson told The Hill.
Issa, meanwhile, is positioning himself as one of the most prepared of the candidates to take the gavel of the Foreign Affairs panel, having visited more than 100 countries. He has also crafted personal relationships with world leaders in allied countries and in those that have a more difficult relationship with the U.S.
Issa’s experience chairing the House Oversight and Accountability Committee is also a selling point. He helped put the panel on the map through investigations like Fast and Furious, and he helped empower future GOP stars and leaders through the panel’s work.
Wilson is pitching himself as an elder statesman in the race. He has led more than 70 congressional delegation trips to more than 80 countries during his time in Congress. And as he campaigns for the committee chair, he has been giving steering committee members pieces from the Berlin wall that he had brought back from Germany in 1990.
One of Wilson’s top priorities is to work with President-elect Trump to codify Iran sanctions. He previously helped introduce the Maximum Pressure Act.
Mast, meanwhile, came to Congress in 2017 after serving in the U.S. Army for more than 12 years, where he earned a Purple Heart, among other honors. The Florida Republican drew headlines last year after, in a show of support for Israel, he wore to the Capitol his uniform for the Israeli military, which he volunteered to serve alongside after his time in the Army.
Education and Workforce Committee
Outgoing Education and Workforce Chair Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) had gotten a waiver to remain in one extra term beyond the term limit in this Congress but is not seeking to stay again.
That has opened up a race between Rep. Tim Walberg (R-Mich.), who ran against Foxx for the post nearly two years ago, and Rep. Burgess Owens (R-Utah).
Walberg’s case is that he is one of the most senior members of the committee. In the new Congress, his top priorities would include supporting parents’ rights, combating antisemitism and anti-Americanism on campus, and updating the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act law.
The committee will play a role in the House GOP’s partisan reconciliation bills they hope to push through Congress to Trump’s desk, due to plans to address student loan issues.
Owens, meanwhile, is running on a platform that includes school choice, combating campus antisemitism and diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in the classroom, and promoting hiring practices that emphasize capabilities, with an eye towards the skills-based economy.
Transportation and Infrastructure Committee
Current Chair Sam Graves (R-Mo.) is in his third term in the top GOP spot on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, but he received a waiver from the steering committee this week to seek a fourth term — coming after President-elect Trump opted to pick former congressman and former Fox News host Sean Duffy to be Transportation Secretary rather than Graves.
But Rep. Rick Crawford (R-Ark.) is also seeking the gavel for the powerful panel.
Graves is pitching himself as an experienced legislator, touting his experience ushering through the five-year Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization bill that was signed into law earlier this year. And looking to next Congress, Graves hopes to use a five-year highway reauthorization bill as a vehicle to help Trump push his transportation priorities.
Crawford, meanwhile, has a policy blueprint materials that focus on investments in the most-used methods of transportation. He argues that investments in “highways, railways, ports, and airways … cannot be subsumed by investments in ‘nice to have’ or ‘soft’ infrastructure projects” like “bike lanes, civilian traffic enforcement, wildlife crossings,” or other initiatives.
