GOP lawmakers bemoan delay in committee chair selection pending McCarthy speaker vote

The date for when the Steering Committee, which is tasked with choosing who sits on and heads certain panels, will make its decisions on contested races remains in flux. Multiple lawmakers are saying they anticipate it will take place after the floor vote for speaker due to the top Republican being allotted a disproportionate number of votes over who will hold committee gavels.

But the delay has caused some members within the House GOP to fear the stalled decisions could have a negative impact on their ability to hire committee staff and tackle the agenda they laid out on the campaign trail.

GOP PLANS FOR HOUSE COMMITTEES DELAYED AS MCCARTHY GRAPPLES WITH SPEAKER VOTE

“It’s not ideal. None of it is. I mean, if we have to wait till Jan. 3 to have our leadership in place, we’re going to lose serious ground and momentum to advance the Commitment to America and the agenda we laid out to the people who gave us the majority — they’ve got to be wondering what in the world are we doing,” one Republican lawmaker told the Washington Examiner.

Another senior GOP member noted that the postponement creates uncertainty for staffers working on committees that are slated to get new chairs in the next Congress.

“I think it’s a big issue because I’m concerned about a gap in time for all these committee members, the committee employees, you know. I think they’re going to be without a paycheck, and the longer this waits, the more that will be a reality,” the source said.

Leadership on the House Ways and Means Committee, the House Homeland Security Committee, and the House Budget Committee is undetermined. A third GOP lawmaker expressed concerns about the ability to legislate via regular order with bills moving up through the committee process impaired by the delay.

“The government has been ground to a halt on the speaker’s race,” the member said.

Others argued that the postponement of the steering decisions undermines McCarthy’s assertion made while unveiling the “Commitment to America” agenda that Republicans would launch investigations and unwind Democrats’ plans to provide resources to hire more IRS personnel. The Republicans voiced frustrations about the delay as McCarthy attempts to keep relationships intact ahead of the floor vote on his speakership.

“There is a growing angst around the Hill about how we would be able to be ‘Day One ready’ when the organizing process is potentially drawn out until a TBD date next year. And more and more people are asking, what is the actual purpose for doing so, and what does the conference stand to benefit by doing so?” a senior GOP aide told the Washington Examiner.

Another senior GOP source called the move “shortsighted and selfish,” alleging it could be counterproductive to the California Republican’s quest to garner the support of his defectors.

“This is incredibly shortsighted and selfish of McCarthy. Not only does it hurt members and staff, but it also significantly delays the agenda and investigations he’s claiming to be the only one to be able to deliver on,” the official said. “How do you have a bill on the floor to eliminate the 87,000 IRS agents or secure the border when you don’t have a Ways and Means Committee or a Homeland Security Committee?”

But other members said the concerns are unwarranted, noting it usually takes some time for committees to staff up and members to get their assignments at the start of a new Congress.

“We’re doing a lot of work on the issues that build up to this,” one member supporting McCarthy said. “Kevin’s having meetings, and he’s taking in everybody’s feedback.”

“The problem is seating the committees and ratios don’t get decided until after the speaker, so you can’t have — we can’t seek committees until ratios, and you can’t discuss ratios until there’s a speaker,” another member supporting the California Republican said. “Two years ago, I don’t think I got my committee assignments until February, maybe the last week of January, but it was late.”

Grappling with a razor-thin majority, McCarthy is facing significant hurdles in obtaining the top leadership position in the House, needing 218 members of his conference to support him on the floor unless defectors choose to vote present to bring down the threshold — a scenario the five conservatives who have publicly come out against him have shot down.

McCarthy’s numbers problem appears to have intensified on Thursday, with an additional seven members and incoming members sending a “Dear Colleague” letter demanding significant changes to the chamber’s rules, including language to make it easier to oust a sitting speaker and banning leadership from playing in primaries in addition to calls for placing more conservatives on coveted committees and cuts to spending.

McCarthy has expressed confidence that he will prevail in obtaining the role, alleging that if members don’t rally behind him, then the Democrats could end up choosing who is speaker. But some within the far-right flank have suggested that “the numbers aren’t going to be there.” Multiple conservative lawmakers said the way McCarthy has approached the situation has failed to change their minds thus far, with his critics taking aim at leadership’s decision to allot more time to pro-McCarthy lawmakers to speak during a closed-door House GOP conference meeting earlier this week.

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One senior Republican aide said that if enough support isn’t secured by the time the vote goes to the floor, it could have negative repercussions for the GOP as the party looks to unite ahead of 2024.

“McCarthy’s situation is not the same thing or comparable to the [former House Speaker John] Boehner situation,” the source said. “Boehner eventually stepped down because he didn’t want to put his friends in a bad spot just to hold the gavel.”