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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.