The victories of the midterm elections swept in a diverse new class of GOP freshman, but the House Republican committee leadership due to be appointed Wednesday is almost exclusively male and white.
The Republican Steering Committee announced its recommendations Tuesday after convening all day to select the heads of 17 committees.
The panel consists of the elected leadership, top committee chairmen, and regional representatives who interview candidates and vote on who they think should be granted chairmanships,
The Hill reported.
Michigan Rep. Candice Miller is the only woman who will be serving as a committee chair, a previously announced reappointment to the House Administration Committee, the
National Journal reported.
California Rep. Devin Nunes, who has a Portuguese background, will serve as the only nonwhite chairman, having been selected by House Speaker John Boehner to chair the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.
When Republicans lost the last presidential race in 2012, a Republican National Committee autopsy report had concluded that
the party must promote more women and minorities into leadership roles to reflect the nation's changing demographics, according to the Journal.
It's unclear why those recommendations haven't been adopted.
Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz won a four-way race to take over the most powerful committee, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, succeeding California Rep. Darrell Issa, whose term will expire.
"Congressman Chaffetz is a valued colleague and demonstrated leader who will continue the work of the Oversight Committee in the next Congress. I am looking forward to working with him on the transition and moving my focus to other responsibilities," Issa said, according to The Hill.
Texas Rep. Mac Thornberry won the only other contested race to become the next chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, prevailing in a late challenge from Virginia Rep. Randy Forbes.
Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, currently chair of the House Budget Committee, has scooped the job he's long been eying as head of the House Ways and Means Committee.
Recommendations are expected to be ratified on Wednesday by the full conference.
The following is a list of all the newly selected House committee chairmen for the 114th Congress:
- Agriculture: Texas Rep. Mike Conaway
- Armed Services: Texas Rep. Mac Thornberry
- Budget: Georgia Rep. Tom Price
- Ethics: Pennsylvania Rep. Charlie Dent
- Intelligence: California Rep. Devin Nunes
- Natural Resources: Utah Rep. Rob Bishop
- Oversight and Government Reform: Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz
- Small Business: Ohio Rep. Steve Chabot
- Ways and Means: Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan