Speaker Mike Johnson is taking a hands off approach as he finally puts his stamp on the House Republicans who will shape his conference’s policy ambitions — a break from his predecessors that has some lawmakers struggling to intuit his preferences.
On Thursday, the Republican Steering Committee finished selecting committee chairs for next year, minus the few who Johnson gets to pick unilaterally. It was his first time driving the selection process for panel leaders, which involves the Steering panel recommending chairs who are typically approved by a full conference vote. His allies have privately kvetched over the past year that he was being forced to operate in a Kevin McCarthy-organized House.
Unlike McCarthy, Johnson did not indicate who he would back to lead the panels ahead of time, pledging that he would stay neutral.
“[With] McCarthy you had a pretty good idea of where he was going and who he liked in the race, and I think maybe some people expected this speaker to do the same,” said Rep. David Joyce (R-Ohio), a member of the Steering Committee. “People are inferring things — that he’s tipping the scale — but Mike’s been very straightforward.”
Lawmakers still tried to read into Johnson’s actions and defer to the speaker. That was particularly true during Rep. Brian Mast’s (R-Fla.) presentation to lead the Foreign Affairs Committee on Monday, when he won an upset victory over Rep. Ann Wagner (R-Mo.), according to two people in the room at the time.
A series of rumors flurried about how Mast won, including false claims that Donald Trump was calling every Steering member to lobby for him, though nearly a dozen lawmakers on the committee said they had not heard from the president-elect. Some lawmakers claimed the Florida delegation lobbied hard for him, saying no one from their state would win a gavel otherwise (multiple Sunshine State lawmakers are headed for prominent spots in the Trump administration). Others said Mast’s presentation was so strong it swayed Steering members to his side.
And some claimed the reason was simpler: Johnson made an offhand remark that hinted he was backing Mast. So a race between four competitors was decided quickly, on the first round of ballots, according to three people familiar with the meeting, granted anonymity to share private details.
Then there was the case of Rep. Sam Graves (R-Mo.) seeking a waiver to continue leading the Transportation Committee, House Republicans had several theories as to why Steering granted a request they typically deny. Some believed Graves would resign if he didn’t get the waiver, potentially crippling Republicans’ ability to pass ambitious legislative priorities in the early months of next year. Others thought he received support from other chairs on the panel who may want a waiver for themselves down the line.
But some people familiar with the Steering meeting noted that Johnson made an innocuous comment that might’ve tipped the scales in that case, too. The speaker said something like: it seemed they were all in agreement and asked to move forward with a voice vote. No one wanted to vote against him — at least not openly.
The ultimate outcome of the contested chair elections was largely a mixed bag for different factions of the conference. Mast is an ardent Trump supporter, who already has strong existing relationships with Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who Trump intends to nominate to be secretary of State; Rep. Mike Waltz (R-Fla.), who will be Trump’s national security adviser; and Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.), who oversees State Department funding on the Appropriations Committee.
Then there’s Rep. Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.), who was selected to lead the Energy and Commerce Committee, an amiable Kentucky Republican who’s known as a team player and avid fundraiser. Two Steering members said it just came down to Guthrie running a stronger race. And Rep. French Hill (R-Ark.), who secured the Financial Services gavel, was once an ardent McCarthy ally who notably voted “present” during an internal roll call vote when Johnson ran for speaker.
Some members of the panel said Johnson’s hands-off approach coupled with the influx of new Steering members — roughly a third of the panel’s membership is new — made for a true meritocracy this time around.
“What I’m sensing in there: You’ve got a new Steering Committee. They are not held to the old ideas and rules. … You haven’t sensed the speaker having his thumb on the scale. I’m sure he has his preferences, but I don’t see that he has communicated that. And I think it’s a meritocracy at this point,” said Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.), a member of the panel.
