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Boehner Adds 2 Rules Republicans — Not the Ones He Booted

Byrne, R-Ala., and Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., are the newest members of Rules. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call File Photo)
Byrne, R-Ala., and Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., are the newest members of Rules. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

Remember when two Florida Republican representatives voted against John A. Boehner for speaker and got themselves removed from the House Rules Committee? They haven’t been reinstated — but they have been replaced. On Tuesday, the Rules Committee announced two additions to the GOP roster, rounding out the lineup from the existing seven to the full nine.  

Stepping in for booted Reps. Daniel Webster (who threw his own name out for speaker ) and Rich Nugent (who voted for Webster) are Bradley Byrne of Alabama and Dan Newhouse of Washington.  

Byrne won his House seat in a special election in 2013 to replace outgoing Republican Rep. Jo Bonner, and serves on the committees on Armed Services and Education and the Workforce. He fills a legislative portfolio void left by Nugent, who is also a member of Armed Services.  

In an interview  with CQ Roll Call in 2013, Chairman Pete Sessions, R-Texas, said it was important for members of the Rules committee to represent different subject areas to reflect the diversity of bills that come through.  

Newhouse is a freshmen who sits on the Agriculture panel.  

The Rules committee is often referred to as the “Speaker’s Committee,” a nod to the extent to which the panel is responsible for executing leadership’s objectives and priorities when it comes to setting parameters for floor debate on sometimes sensitive pieces of legislation.  

When Webster and Nugent rebuffed Boehner in speaker elections on the House floor on opening day of the new Congress, they were off Rules by the end of the day.  

The next morning, Boehner left open the possibility  that, if the message had been received, the two dissident lawmakers might get their jobs back.  

Nearly three months later, that door’s closed.  

Related:

The Speaker Strikes Back: Boehner Cancels Gohmert’s Travel (Video)


Boehner Weighs Punishments for Speaker Election Dissidents


The 114th: CQ Roll Call’s Guide to the New Congress


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