House GOP Committee Chairs Will All Be White Men In Next

Congress
WASHINGTON -- House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) announced who will chair all of the major
House committees in the next Congress. And it turns out they all have something in common besides
party affiliation: they're all white men.
There isn't a single woman or minority included in the mix of 19 House committee chairs announced
Tuesday -- a stark reality for a party desperate to appeal to women and minorities after both groups
overwhelmingly rejected Republicans just weeks ago in the presidential election. The one female
committee chair that House Republicans currently have, Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.), is
stepping down because her term is up. While there are still two lower-tier House committees
awaiting a chair assignment -- the Ethics Committee and House Administration -- neither committee
has any women or minority members.
At least one Senate Democrat was quick to point out that something is missing from the Republican
lineup.
"Disappointed to see House committee chairmanships in the 113th Congress will not include a single
woman. -PM," tweeted Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), who included a link to Boehner's press release
announcing the chair posts.
A House Republican leadership aide declined to comment on the lack of diversity in the party's
committee leadership. The aide noted, though, that GOP leaders just put four conference chairs
women in party leadership. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash) is the new House Republican
Conference Chair, Rep. Lynn Jenkins (R-Kansas) is conference vice chair, Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.)
is conference secretary, and Rep.-elect Ann Wagner (R-Mo.) will represent freshman members in
party leadership.
To be fair, House committee chairs are typically chosen based on their seniority on the committee,
and most committees don't have Republican women or minorities at senior levels. In addition, there
just aren't that many House Republican women and minorities to go around. In the 113th Congress,
which kicks off in January, House Republicans will have 20 women in their camp, compared to 61
House Democratic women. You can count on two hands the number of House Republicans who are
minorities. By contrast, in the new Congress, the House Democratic Caucus will have a majority of
women and minorities for the first time in history.
Still, that doesn't mean Republican leaders couldn't have picked at least one woman or minority for a
committee leadership post. Rep. Candice Miller (R-Mich.), who is currently eighth in seniority on the
House Homeland Security Committee, had a decent shot at taking over that committee. Instead, the
chair post went to Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), who is ranked fifth in seniority.

House Democratic leaders haven't

announced who will be the ranking
Democrats on each of the committees, but
they clearly dominate on the diversity front.
Out of the 19 major House committees, as
many as nine of the ranking Democrats are
expected to be a woman or a minority.
Among the more powerful posts: Either Rep.
Nita Lowey (N.Y.) or Marcy Kaptur (Ohio) is
poised to take the top Democratic slot on the
Appropriations Committee, Rep. Maxine
Waters (Calif.) is expected to be the ranking
Democrat on Financial Services and Rep.
John Conyers (D-Mich.), who is AfricanAmerican, who will keep his top slot on
Judiciary.
A senior Democratic aide reveled in the fact
that Republicans can't seem to figure out
how to diversify.
"One would think House Republicans would
learn from their mistakes. But they have elected a roster of committee chairs that represent their
ranks: old white men," the aide said.
Boehner announced his new chairmen after the House Republican Steering Committee met behind
closed doors for most of Tuesday. Most committees will keep the same chairs they already have, but
more than half a dozen will get new leaders: In addition to McCaul's new post, Rep. Jeb Hensarling
(Texas) will now chair Financial Services, Rep. Ed Royce (Calif.) will lead Foreign Affairs, Rep. Bob
Goodlatte (Va.) will chair Judiciary, Rep. Pete Sessions (Texas) will chair Rules, Rep. Lamar Smith
(Texas) will lead Science, Space, and Technology, and Rep. Bill Shuster (Pa) will head up
Transportation and Infrastructure.
House committee chairs are term-limited, so all of the new chairmen are replacing someone who had
to step down. Still, one lawmaker obtained a waiver to go around House rules and stay on as
committee chair in the next Congress, despite his term being up: Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) will remain
atop the House Budget Committee.
As some readers have noted, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell
Issa (R-Calif.) is of Arab descent; his office conference chairs paternal grandparents were
Lebanese immigrants.