Meet the House Republicans Who Will Wield Power in the New Congress

WASHINGTON — Republicans may have won control of the House by only the slimmest of margins, but in a chamber that operates purely by majority rule, their razor-thin edge has given them all the tools they need to plunge the Biden administration into a morass of investigations.

Wielding gavels and subpoena power, the Republicans set to chair influential House committees have pledged to bedevil the president on a litany of issues, including the foreign business dealings of his son Hunter, security at the southern border, the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and the Justice Department’s initiative to address threats of violence and harassment directed at school administrators and school board members.

At the same time, they will face calls from their conservative base — and an influential clutch of hard-liners in Congress — to impeach a phalanx of officials, from Mr. Biden himself to the vice president and cabinet secretaries.

And at least some of them will need to find a way to produce legislation — at a minimum, bills to fund the government — that can make it through the Democratic-led Senate and be signed by Mr. Biden.

While House Republicans made modest gains in diversifying this year, their senior ranks reflect the overwhelmingly white, male makeup of their conference. The party is on track to have no people of color leading committees — a notable shift from House Democrats, who have six Black lawmakers, two Latino legislators and an Asian American one in those posts. Republicans are also set to have only two or three women leading committees, down from the seven Democratic women who now hold gavels.

Here’s a look at some of the key players.

APPROPRIATIONS

Representative Kay Granger of Texas

The first female mayor of Fort Worth and 13-term congresswoman is on track to become the first Republican woman to take the helm of the powerful Appropriations Committee, which controls government spending.

It will fall to her to steer a dozen funding bills through the House in the face of opposition from anti-spending Republicans, which will most likely entail negotiating with Democrats to win the necessary votes and avoid a presidential veto.

While Ms. Granger has at times opposed short-term spending legislation under the Biden administration, she has repeatedly lobbied for increases in military spending and investments in the F-35 fighter jets that are built in her district.

Armed Services

Mike D. Rogers of Alabama

The deeply conservative 11-term congressman is in line to become the chairman of the panel, which has historically operated in a bipartisan way.

Mr. Rogers, who was one of the key architects in Congress of the Space Force, has called for the Biden administration to increase military spending. As the leader of the committee, he will be responsible for ensuring the passage of the annual defense bill, which directs military policy and outlines the Pentagon budget each year.

energy and commerce

Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington

The former chair of the House Republican Conference is in line to become the first woman to lead the panel, one of three major investigative committees in the chamber.

Ms. McMorris Rodgers has pledged to use her perch to scrutinize the origins of the coronavirus pandemic, including bringing Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the chief medical adviser to the president and a favorite target of Republicans, before her panel. Oversight of Dr. Fauci’s actions, she has said, “will continue past his departure and until the American people have the answers they need.”

She has also indicated she will dig into TikTok, after recently teaming up with Representative James R. Comer, the Kentucky Republican who is likely to lead the Oversight Committee, to send the social media company a letter raising concerns that it provided misleading information to Congress about its data sharing and privacy practices with the Chinese government.

Foreign Affairs

Michael T. McCaul of Texas

A former federal prosecutor is poised to chair the panel, which is expected to lead an investigation into the Biden administration’s handling of the precipitous withdrawal from Afghanistan. The investigation is likely to focus on the planning in the run-up to the evacuation, botched efforts to evacuate Afghan interpreters and contractors who aided the U.S. government, and the consequences of the withdrawal.

A longtime China hawk, Mr. McCaul has said his top priority is to help the United States counter a rising Beijing, including toughening export controls of sensitive military technology and bolstering arms sales to Taiwan.

Mr. McCaul has been a vocal supporter of military aid to Ukraine, suggesting that he might use his gavel to help counter the growing tide of anti-interventionist voices in his party clamoring to scale back or cut off aid entirely. He has said his panel will exercise more oversight into where the aid is going.

Judiciary

Jim Jordan of Ohio

Few Republicans are likely to play a larger role in the new Congress than the founding chairman of the right-wing House Freedom Caucus and seven-term congressman who is in line to become the chairman of the Judiciary Committee.

An ally of former President Donald J. Trump, Mr. Jordan has gone from a potential opponent of Representative Kevin McCarthy, Republican of California, to a supporter of Mr. McCarthy’s bid to become speaker.

oversight

James R. Comer of Kentucky

The former state legislator and agriculture commissioner from Kentucky who has served in Congress for six years has been eagerly awaiting his chance to lead a wide array of investigations with the subpoena power that comes with Republican control of the House.

Mr. Comer has said he has obtained the contents of a laptop owned by Hunter Biden, the president’s son, whose business activities are under federal investigation.

Mr. Comer and Mr. Jordan held a news conference on Capitol Hill recently detailing their plans to take the inquiry’s focus beyond the younger Mr. Biden. “This is an investigation of Joe Biden,” Mr. Comer said.

In addition to the Biden family’s businesses, Mr. Comer has said his committee will investigate the administration’s handling of the southwest border, the origins of Covid-19, the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan and whether there was mismanagement of pandemic relief funds, among other things.

“The American people want accountability in Washington and Republicans are ready to deliver,” he said in a statement.

Ways and Means

Contested

Three Republicans are competing to lead the committee responsible for setting the nation’s tax and trade policy.

Representative Jason Smith of Missouri, the top Republican on the Budget Committee, is seeking to jump to Ways and Means, where he could play a more prominent role in the debate over how to handle the looming insolvency of programs like Social Security and Medicare. Mr. Smith has vowed to lead oversight of the Internal Revenue Service and craft tax and trade legislation that strengthens the United States’ position against China, an aide said.

Representative Vern Buchanan of Florida has also made clear he wants the post, having chaired several subcommittees and demonstrated a prolific fund-raising ability on behalf of the House Republican campaign arm. Mr. Buchanan has stressed his experience as a business owner and has championed making the 2017 Republican tax law permanent.

Representative Adrian Smith of Nebraska is also running for the position, highlighting his policy credentials and the work he has done on the committee since 2010. He has also been involved in carrying out a bipartisan trade agreement with Mexico and Canada.

Homeland Security

Contested

Representative Mark E. Green of Tennessee, a former Army Ranger medic who was part of the mission that captured Saddam Hussein, is facing off against Representative Daniel Crenshaw of Texas, a former Navy SEAL officer, for the gavel. Whoever prevails will play a role in what leading Republicans have promised will be an aggressive investigation, and potential impeachment, of Mr. Mayorkas and the administration’s border policies.

Both Mr. Green and Mr. Crenshaw are two-term congressman who are deeply conservative and have military backgrounds. Mr. Green is a member of the right-wing Freedom Caucus, while Mr. Crenshaw has scrapped with the hard-right flank of his party.

Both have said they intend to hold the Biden administration accountable for the immigration crisis at the southern border, as well as work to strengthen the government’s approach to cybersecurity.

Stephanie Lai contributed reporting.