The House Republican Steering Committee selected four lawmakers on Wednesday evening to fill committee seats negotiated between Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) following Republicans’ special election wins earlier this year.
The 31-member panel — which consists of top Republican lawmakers and is tasked with determining who is placed on certain committees — was able to place members on more senior committees than their previous assignments.
The Steering members opted to place Rep. Troy Balderson (R-Ohio) on the House Agriculture Committee, Rep. Mark Green (R-Tenn.) was selected to serve on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs; Rep. Mike Garcia (R-Calif.) was appointed to the Homeland Security Committee and Rep. Pete Stauber (R-Minn.) was selected to sit on the House Committee on Natural Resources.
It’s unclear when the committee will select members to replace Rep. Steve Watkins (R-Kansas) on his committees in the wake of the embattled Kansas Republican’s recent announcement that he was temporarily stepping down from his committee posts after being charged with three felonies and a misdemeanor. Watkins maintains there was no wrongdoing.
The committee seats Watkins previously sat on will temporarily remain vacant, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the situation.