With the media’s focus on trying to paint Republicans as the party of rich white men, additional scrutiny has been placed on House Republican chairmanships. And Republican Congresswomen are taking notice. Today, several House Republican women are pushing for female candidates to be taken under serious consideration for the two remaining committee chairmanships. Rep. Sue Myrick (R-NC) said today that she and her female colleagues are “making the position known” to House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH). “It’s not over yet,” said Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL). “There’s still two committees open.”
The two remaining committees are the Committee on House Administration and the House Ethics Committee. The Committee on House Administration is currently chaired by Rep. Dan Lungren (R-CA), and includes zero Republican women. The Committee on House Ethics chair is Rep. Jo Bonner (R-AL); there are no Republican women on that committee, either.
Overall, there are twenty female Republicans in the House, including power players like Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN), Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), Rep. Lynn Jenkins (R-KS), Rep. Kristi Noem (R-SD), and Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC). McMorris Rodgers is the chair of the House Republican Conference.