Dem
51
GOP
49
As we have mentioned several times already, one of the conditions Kevin McCarthy had to submit to in order to get the speaker's gavel was hollowing out the power of the speakership and giving it to the committee chairs and the rank-and-file members. In the old days, the committee chairs came up through the ranks and were typically on a committee for 20 years before becoming chair or ranking member. This system made it common for the chairs to be quite well versed in what the committee did and the areas over which it had jurisdiction.
In the 118th House, McCarthy had to give away some chairmanships as prizes in order to get enough votes. As a consequence, a number of the chairs have served only a short time in the House, let alone on their committee. Having inexperienced chairs doesn't matter if all you want to do is grandstand and put on show hearings, but if the goal were, say, legislating, it's not a great start. For example, the last time before 2023 the House switched from Democratic to Republican control, Rep. Jodey Arrington (R-TX) was an administrator at Texas Tech, Rep. Mark Green (R-TN) was a headhunter, and Rep. Jason Smith (R-MO) was in the Missouri legislature. Now they are running three of the most important committees in Congress: Budget, Homeland Security, and Ways and Means, respectively.
Collectively they have fewer than 20 years in Congress and none of them has ever been ranking member of the committee he will now chair. But it is not only these three. Eight of the chairs have fewer than 10 years in the House. In 2011, only three had less experience than that. Their lack of experience will make them easy prey for lobbyists who will offer them bills and amendments that have consequences the new chairs don't understand. They will also have trouble mediating battles among members whose constituents have different interests. For example, a new farm bill is needed this year. The bill will have a big impact on how much farmers earn and how much consumers pay for food. Different committee members may have quite different ideas on whether farmers or consumers are more important and the chairman will have to deal with this. Similar hot-button issues will occur in almost all committees. Having a chairman who doesn't really understand any of this is not going to produce better legislation.
Also, each committee has a large staff to help the members. The chair is responsible for hiring them. Very few will want to inherit the staff of the previous (Democratic) chair. Consequently, the chair is going to handle staffing. A new chair who has only a few years in Congress is not likely to know enough people to do this well, in contrast to someone who has been on the committee for 20 years and has a pretty good idea of who's out there and what they can do.
Not all the chairs are newbies, though. Rep. Kay Granger (R-TX), who will run the Appropriations Committee, which gets to decide how the government will spend $6.3 trillion each year, has been in the House for 26 years. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), a 19-year House veteran, will run the Energy and Commerce Committee. Still, a large number of committees will be run by people who may be in over their heads. (V)