No women among Republicans picked as new committee chiefs

House Republican leaders on Tuesday picked six new committee chairmen, which the entire GOP conference is expected to ratify on Wednesday. 

{mosads}Three of the races were competitive, with Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) now set to become the new Homeland Security Committee chairman, Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas) the Science Committee chairman and Rep. Ed Royce (R-Calif.) the Foreign Affairs chairman.

No women are among the new chairmen picked, a fact Democrats are expected to highlight after an election year in which the parties vied for femail voters. Rep. Candice Miller (R-Mich.) had hoped to become the chairwoman of Homeland Security.

Outgoing Foreign Affairs Committee Chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) was the sole chairwoman in the last Congress.

Three women do serve in the House GOP leadership ranks: newly elected Conference Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers (Wash.), Conference Vice Chairwoman Lynn Jenkins (Kan.) and Conference Secretary Virginia Foxx (N.C.).

Smith, clad in a tie decorated with planets and spaceships for his presentation, won the gavel over Reps. James Sensenbrenner Jr. (R-Wis.) and Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.).

Royce edged out Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) to win the Foreign Affairs gavel.

Filling out the ranks of new faces are Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), who will be the new Judiciary Committee chairman; Rep. Bill Shuster (R-Pa.), the new Transportation Committee chairman; and Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas), who will be Financial Services Committee chairman.

Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) was granted a waiver to continue as chairman of the House Budget Committee. House Republicans impose a six-year term limit on committee chairmen and ranking members, but exceptions are made.

Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) praised the committee picks.

“Our team will continue focusing on reforms that will grow our economy and create new jobs, and on holding the Obama administration accountable through aggressive oversight of the executive branch,” Boehner said in a statement.

“The House of Representatives is an outpost in Democratic-controlled Washington for the priorities of the American people, and I have every confidence that the chairmen selected today are up to the task of translating those priorities into solutions Americans are counting on to get our economy moving again.”

Boehner has yet to make his selections for the Ethics and House Administration committees.

This story was updated at 8:37 a.m. Wednesday.