Meet the new power players in Washington: These Republicans captured top chair positions after high-profile GOP departures from Congress

A slew of high-profile retirement announcements and early resignations has prompted a power shakeup among House Republicans. 

Members in highly sought-after chairmanships are giving up their coveted roles, making room for a new era of leaders to pull the legislative strings, at least in this GOP-led Congress.  

The party in power typically gets more seats on committees, and their Steering Committee chooses who gets what spot and who gets to lead each committee. 

Speaker Mike Johnson gets four votes on the steering committee, Majority Leader Steve Scalise has two. The rest of leadership and members who are on the committee each get one.  

Appropriations Committee gets a new chairman from another influential committee 

The powerful Appropriations Committee - the one that draws up funding levels for 12 agencies of government - found a new chairman in former Rules Chair Tom Cole after Rep. Kay Granger stepped down

The powerful Appropriations Committee - the one that draws up funding levels for 12 agencies of government - found a new chairman in former Rules Chair Tom Cole after Rep. Kay Granger stepped down. 

Granger, R-Texas, will retire at the end of her term. She took heat from the right flank of the party over a pair of 'minibuses,' or spending bills that each funded six agencies of government, that ultra-conservatives thought had too high a price tag. 

The spending bills amounted to $1.2 trillion and $460 million each.  

Granger has served on the committee for 25 years and was a big advocate of defense spending. 

The shakeup comes as Republicans are racing against time to draw up and pass next year's spending bills before the next election, when they could lose control of the House. 

Speaker Mike Johnson has insisted the House will pass 12 separate appropriations bills this time around, after blowing through deadlines for spending legislation this time around. 

The Appropriations Committee has 12 subcommittees, one for each agency of government, each with their own chairmen. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., is the top Democrat on the committee. 

In a committee-wide shakeup Rep. Steve Womack, R-Ark., will lead the subcommittee that determines funds for Transportation and Housing and Urban Development, Rep. David Valadao, R-Calif., will lead determination of funding for the legislative branch and Rep. David Joyce, R-Ohio, will lead Financial Services funding. 

China competition select committee gets new chairman after Gallagher's shock departure 

With the shock departure of Chairman Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., coming April 19, Rep. John Moolenar, R-Mich., will now lead the China select committee. 

Gallagher, known as a policy-focused pragmatist, is leaving after taking heat for voting against impeachment of Homeland Security Sec. Alejandro Mayorkas.  

With the shock departure of Chairman Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., coming April 19, Rep. John Moolenar, R-Mich., will now lead the China select committee

The select committee started under Republicans in January 23 and has offered policy recommendations to strengthen U.S. competitiveness under the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). 

Its signature bill to force Chinese-controlled ByteDance to divest TikTok or else face a ban in the U.S. blew through the House floor with a large majority and is now waiting to be taken up by the Senate. 

This committee is led on the Democratic side by Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Calif. Krishnamoorthi and Gallagher had a more collaborative bipartisan relationship than most committees. 

Rules Committee has new leader tasked with shaping bills after they come out of their own committees 

After Cole left his top spot on Rules for Appropriations, the key committee will be led by Rep. Michael Burgess, R-Texas. 

The committee determines the rule process for legislation, including what and how many amendments will get a vote on the House floor. A bill typically passes out of its committee of jurisdiction, then is marked up and passed out of the Rules Committee before it is debated and voted on on the House floor. 

Burgess has been on the Rules Committee since 2013 and has been in Congress since 2003. 

After Cole left his top spot on Rules for Appropriations, the key committee will be led by Rep. Michael Burgess, R-Texas

Four-way race to take top GOP spot on Financial Services after one-time Speaker Patrick McHenry announces retirement

With former interim Speaker Patrick McHenry's departure at the end of this Congress, the top Republican spot on the Financial Services Committee will be up for grabs. 

The race to replace him already pits four Republicans against each other: Rep. Frank Lucas of Oklahoma, Bill Huizenga of Michigan, Andy Barr of Kentucky and French Hill of Arkansas. 

Whoever leads the commitee will head the GOP's strategy in pushing back on environmental, social and governance investing and on how financial regulators are addressing climate change. 

The committee oversees the nation's housing and financial services sectors including banking, insurance, real estate, public and assisted housing, and securities. 

Lucas currently chairs the Science, Space and Technology Committee and has been on the Financial Services Committee since 1995. Barr is the leader of the subcommittee on Digital assets, Financial Technology and Inclusion and Huizenga chairs the subcommittee of Oversight and Investigations. 

Two Republicans vying to lead wide-ranging Energy and Commerce Committee 

Rep. Cathy McMorris Rogers, R-Wash., will retire at the end of her term, opening up the top GOP spot on this committee that has broadest jurisdiction of any in Congress.

Rep. Brett Guthrie of Kentucky and Bob Latta of Ohio are both vying for that role next term.  

Energy and Commerce presides over policy on telecommunications, consumer protection, food and drug safety, public health and research, environmental quality, energy policy, and interstate and foreign commerce among others.