Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-NY) will serve as the new chairman of the Homeland Security Committee after the House Republican Steering Committee selected him over three other contenders late Monday night.

Garbarino, the co-chair of the SALT Caucus, defeated Reps. Michael Guest (R-MS), Carlos Gimenez (R-FL), and Clay Higgins (R-LA). He will replace former Tennessee Rep. Mark Green, who held the position from 2023 to 2025 until his retirement effective Sunday.

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This is one of the first major chairmanship shake-ups of the 119th Congress. The Rules Committee faced a similar change in leadership earlier this year after former Texas Rep. and chairman Michael Burgess decided to retire after the 2024 election. Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC) was selected to replace him in January.

During the 118th Congress, Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK) was selected as the Appropriations Committee chairman to succeed former Texas Rep. Kay Granger last April. Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX) did not seek a waiver to remain the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, and Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL) succeeded him in December.

Garbarino will be tasked with implementing Republicans’ and President Donald Trump’s immigration and border security agenda. The newly selected chairman will also be tasked with drafting a new version of H.R. 2, an aggressive immigration crackdown bill that passed the House but did not get called up for a vote in the Democrat-controlled Senate last year.

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The New York Republican’s selection is a win for centrist Republicans. Conservatives were backing Higgins, a vocal member of the Freedom Caucus.