Where McCarthy’s detractors landed

Many of the 21 GOP holdouts during Kevin McCarthy’s House speaker bid landed on top-tier panels, while others got less visible posts.

By Anthony Adragna and Andrew Milligan

Last Updated: Feb. 1, 2023, 1:54 p.m. PST

Many of the 21 GOP rebels who initially opposed Speaker Kevin McCarthy on the floor last month notched prime committee posts in the aftermath of the fractious fight that won him the House’s top gavel, but it wasn’t an all-out victory for the obstreperous bloc.

We’ve grouped the lawmakers by how well they’ve made out —

top-tier assignments,

influential roles on the Oversight committee,

other positions critical to the party's priorities, and

less visible posts.

Four of the McCarthy skeptics won a traditional legislative prize: New seats on the top-tier and most-coveted House panels. Reps. Michael Cloud (Texas) and Andrew Clyde (Ga.) landed on the Appropriations Committee, while Reps. Byron Donalds (Fla.) and Andy Ogles (Tenn.) picked up spots on the Financial Services Committee. Rep. Ralph Norman (S.C.) held onto the Financial Services post he picked up midway through the last Congress, while Rep. Andy Harris (Md.) is also grabbing the gavel of an Appropriations subcommittee.

Donalds, though, may have been the biggest winner of the group. Nominated several times for speaker on the floor by some conservatives, he later landed a spot on the influential House Republican Steering Committee, which decides leadership positions. And he’ll retain a spot on the Oversight and Accountability Committee, as the House GOP majority prepares to tangle with the Biden administration.

The oversight panel is a major landing spot for many of the anti-McCarthy rebels. Reps. Lauren Boebert (Colo.), Paul Gosar (Ariz.), Anna Paulina Luna (Fla.) and Scott Perry (Pa.), all of whom opposed McCarthy on the floor, grabbed new slots on the committee (Gosar will return after being stripped of his committee assignments by Democrats last Congress.). Rep. Andy Biggs (Ariz.), an early ringleader of the anti-McCarthy effort, keeps his spot on the committee, as well.

The other high-profile committee sure to host plenty of battles with the Biden administration is the Judiciary Committee — and those opposed to McCarthy hold their fair share of seats there, as well. Reps. Dan Bishop (N.C.), Matt Gaetz (Fla.), Chip Roy (Texas), Victoria Spartz (Ind.) and Biggs will all keep their seats there.

Two new members of Congress who opposed McCarthy — Reps. Josh Brecheen (Okla.) and Eli Crane (Ariz.) — ended up with spots on the House Homeland Security Committee, which is sure to focus on the southern border, a top Republican priority. Bishop is keeping a spot on that committee.

Two of the McCarthy opponents — Roy and Norman — also grabbed spots on the powerful Rules Committee, which oversees which bills hit the floor and how debate is structured. They represent part of a new influential conservative bloc on the panel.

And some of the rebels picked up slots on the new GOP-led special committees that formed this Congress. Bishop and Roy landed on the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, while Cloud nabbed a spot on the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic.

Others of the anti-McCarthy bloc ended up with less high-profile postings. Rep. Matt Rosendale (Mont.) will continue on the House Natural Resources and Veterans Affairs Committees. Rep. Mary Miller (Ill.) will continue on the Agriculture and Education and the Workforce Committees. Rep. Keith Self (Texas), a freshman, landed a spot on the Foreign Affairs and Veterans Affairs Committees. Rep. Bob Good (Va.) retained his spot on the Education and the Workforce Committee. Crane was also named to the Small Business Committee.

What’s clear is many of McCarthy's doubters made out quite well as committee posts were doled out, but it wasn’t entirely equal. Donalds and Roy are among the clearest victors: The Texan now has a pivotal role in shaping how legislation hits the House floor through his Rules Committee perch, while also playing a central role on two panels — Judiciary and the special new “Weaponization” of the federal government subpanel — that function as the vanguard of the GOP oversight agenda.

Other anti-McCarthy conservatives, like Miller, Gaetz and Rosendale, retained their past committee assignments; some freshmen in their camp, meanwhile, like Self, Crane and Breechen, landed on panels that typically have a harder time getting national attention.

And of course, the 21 rebels scored victories beyond their committee assignments, such as the restoration of a single member's ability to force a vote on deposing a speaker (what's known as a "motion to vacate" in Congress-speak). Taken together, not since the rise of the tea party movement in 2010 has the House's right flank been set up this well to wield real power in the chamber — positioned to have real influence over which bills hit the floor and with slots on committees likely to result in national exposure.