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Republican Kevin McCarthy became Speaker of the House last Friday after a week of successive votes in which a small group of legislators from his own party were blocking his appointment. After successfully taking over as Speaker of the House, the names of the Republicans who will chair the main committees of the House of Representatives were announced on Monday.
The Hill recalled that the House GOP Steering Committee, a panel of about 30 lawmakers, made its choices for uncontested committee chairs in December.
“But it put its selections for four key contested chairmanships — for the Homeland Security, Ways and Means, Budget, and Education and Workforce committees — on hold as a group of hard-line conservatives expressed opposition to McCarthy that threatened to tank his Speaker bid,” the media outlet reviewed.
Heads of the Main Committees in the House
Budget Committee – Rep. Jodey Arrington (Texas): Arrington criticized Democrats for wasting the budget and is expected to hear about agreements to cut spending in the coming days, according to The Hill.
“I’m going to work with every individual to see how far we can stretch responsibly to start doing right by, quite frankly, our children. Because they’re going there they will inherit a disaster, which is an understatement, if this thing goes south,” said Arrington.
Small Business Committee – Rep. Roger Williams (Texas): on Monday night, the House GOP Steering Committee picked Williams to chair the Small Business Committee. The Hill detailed that it is the only uncontested committee chairmanship yet to be formalized by the Steering Committee after it made selections for all other uncontested gavels in December.
Education and Workforce Committee- Rep. Virginia Foxx (NC): according to media reports, Republicans will rename the committee that Democrats called the Education and Labor Committee. Rep. Foxx received a waiver from the steering committee to run again for the position.
Ways and Means Committee- Rep. Jason Smith (Mo): the representative said the committee will focus on the success of the Jobs and Tax Cut Act. “We will examine using both trade policy and our tax code to re-shore and strengthen our supply chains, where products and services vital to our national security are made here at home using American labor, as well as craft policies that help America achieve food and medical security rather than dependence on nations like China,” he added.
Homeland Security Committee – Rep. Mark Green (Tenn): Green explained to the media that one of his proposals is to have two full-time committee staff members working from the U.S.-Mexico border. This is intended to keep the committee informed of everything happening at the border point.
Williams Perdomo es periodista y escritor, especializado en las fuentes Política y Cultura.