Rep. GT Thompson (R-PA) this week was named the next chair of the House Agriculture Committee for the 118th Congress, succeeding Democrat David Scott (D-GA).
The House Republican Steering Committee, which chooses committee chairs, elected Rep. Thompson, who was running unopposed.
Rep. Thompson has been Ranking Member of the Agriculture Committee since the retirement of former Rep. Mike Conaway (R-TX) in 2020.
The steering committee also voted on other chairmanships that are unopposed, such as Rep. Kay Granger (R-TX) to be chair of the Appropriations Committee, Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) to chair the Energy & Commerce Committee, Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-AR) to chair the Natural Resources Committee, and Rep. Sam Graves (R-MO) to chair the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
The steering committee has not decided on other committees such as Ways and Means, Budget, Armed Services, and others.
For House Democrats, most current chairs will convert to Ranking Members, except for Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-PA) on the Budget Committee and the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, which will be contested between Reps. Rick Larsen (D-WA) and Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC).
Republicans are expected to have a slim majority with 222 seats to Democrats 213. This margin is similar to the Democrat majority in the 117th Congress, where committees had a 5-7 seat advantage for Democrats.
