Speaker McCarthy adds hard-right Republicans to House Rules Committee

The House’s powerful Rules Committee has moved to the right, according to lists shared by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) on Monday. The committee, which

will be chaired by Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), includes Reps. Chip Roy (R-Tex.), Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Ralph Norman (R-S.C.). Roy and Norman were among the group of Republican

holdouts who withheld support for McCarthy’s speakership during the 15 rounds of voting earlier this month until after he’d made several concessions to the more extremist wing of

the party. “This was about empowering people — empowering rank-and-file members,” said Roy after the speakership votes were completed, having voted against McCarthy 11

times before supporting him in the final rounds. The concessions McCarthy made to hard-right Republicans include lowering, from five to one, the number of members

required to force a vote on ousting the speaker — a change that the California Republican had previously said he would not accept. McCarthy also promised to seat House Freedom

Caucus members on the Rules Committee, a promise he fulfilled with Monday’s announcement. Jeffries taps Schiff, Swalwell for Intelligence panel; McCarthy vows to block

Left out of Monday’s announcement, however, was any word on the fates of two California Democrats whom House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) formally recommended to the

intelligence committee, but whom McCarthy had vowed to deny seats — Reps. Adam B. Schiff and Eric Swalwell.