North Carolina Republican Rep. Virginia Foxx will chair the House Rules Committee, Speaker Mike Johnson announced Friday, one of several changes to the powerful panel.
Foxx will be the first Republican woman to chair the panel and the second woman ever, following the late Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.). A former chair of the Education and Workforce Committee, Foxx will be the only House Republican woman to hold a full committee gavel this Congress.
Johnson chose Foxx to succeed now-retired Rep. Michael Burgess (R-Texas). Unlike most other House committees, the Rules gavel is chosen solely at the discretion of the speaker — a recognition of the panel’s key role in managing business on the House floor.
In another potentially impactful move, Johnson appointed Reps. Morgan Griffith (R-Va.) and Brian Jack (R-Ga.) to Rules — replacing Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Guy Reschenthaler (R-Pa.). The membership changes were described by two Republicans familiar with the move.