After gaining a House majority following the 2022 midterm elections, Republican members were quick to establish their agenda as a party, as well as their personal playbook for how they might make headlines and attack important matters head-on.
Over the last 100 days of Congress, several House Republicans have made waves inside and outside the lower chamber on personal, political, and social matters. Here are the five GOP members who have raised their profiles since the beginning of the session.
DEMOCRATS SUFFER ANOTHER LOSS AS LOUISIANA LAWMAKER LEAVES PARTY TO JOIN GOP
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) is known for being one of the most vocal and right-leaning House GOP members who is not afraid to make brash or controversial comments on anything from transgender people to recent school shootings to Chinese spy balloons. She has even called for a "national divorce" between red and blue states, arguing the political parties should go their separate ways, drawing expected criticism but surprising support from a small amount of the public.
Greene didn't hesitate to step into the congressional arena in January and advocate several policies that eventually saw the light of day — such as the release of the Jan. 6, 2021, footage from the Jan. 6 House select committee from the previous Congress. She also achieved victory after the Foreign Affairs Committee decided it would advance her audit of United States aid to Ukraine for its war against Russia. Greene secured positions on the House Oversight and Homeland Security committees, for which Republicans received extreme backlash from the White House and House Democrats.
Her support for former President Donald Trump also defines her as a representative. She called Trump during the 15 rounds of voting for Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) to become speaker of the House, which she said played a "significant role" in McCarthy's victory.
“I’m not taking full credit, but Kevin McCarthy would have had a hard time being speaker if I hadn’t have put my full weight and support behind him like I did,” Greene told the Hill.
She also has not been afraid to bash the U.S. justice system, be it state or federal. Most recently, she became a familiar face at protests in New York over the former president's indictment from a Manhattan grand jury over hush money payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels during the 2016 presidential campaign. Greene called the indictment an "unprecedented abuse" of the New York justice system and referred to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg as a "tool for the Democrats."
Greene called on the Justice Department to "better start doing its job" when she introduced legislation to designate antifa as a terrorist organization, a major concern for her and other far-right GOP representatives.
Rep. Jim Jordan
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) quickly established himself in the new Congress as someone unafraid to go after anyone, no matter their political position, whether it is the DOJ, the FBI, Attorney General Merrick Garland, or the president himself.
Jordan, like many other House Republicans, vowed to investigate the Biden administration for its response to situations such as the COVID-19 pandemic, China, Hunter Biden's laptop, or, even closer to home, vocal parents at school board meetings.
The Ohio representative leads the House Judiciary Committee, giving him significant power to call many high-ranking officials to testify, including Garland for the "weaponization" of the DOJ — a topic that House Republicans promised they would explore if they took the House majority in 2022. He has staunchly defended FBI whistleblowers who claim wrongdoing and politicization of the agency.
Jordan recently became involved in the Trump indictment by leading House Republicans in an investigation of the Manhattan District Attorney's Office. He subpoenaed former New York County District Attorney Mark Pomerantz last week, whom he says resigned as an act of protest to pressure Bragg to reopen the case against Trump, which Jordan argues is politically motivated. Jordan went so far as to say that a subpoena of Bragg himself might be on the table and sent the Manhattan district attorney a letter asking for communications between the federal Justice Department and the Manhattan office.
Rep. Juan Ciscomani
Rep. Juan Ciscomani (R-AZ) is not someone who lets identity politics get in the way of his values and the policies that matter to him, particularly the immigration influx at the southern border.
The Arizona representative, a first-generation Mexican immigrant, turned heads when he flipped his district red in 2022, defeating his Democratic opponent, state Sen. Kirsten Engel, by a little over 1 percentage point. McCarthy said Ciscomani was a standard-bearer of the party's efforts to elect more minority candidates. Since then, Ciscomani has brought a unique perspective to the House by drawing on his personal experiences and opinions related to immigration, trade, security, and other areas that many representatives do not have.
Ciscomani is one of the most vocal critics of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, frequently commenting on Mayorkas's inability to maintain control of the southern border and slamming the Biden administration for the rise in fentanyl overdose rates.
As a Hispanic representative, he said he is a supporter of the American dream — when it is done legally. He also gained national attention for blasting his critics for playing the "race card," saying that Hispanics should not be pushed to take a stance on a certain topic solely due to their heritage.
The representative's stances on policy areas drew the attention of House GOP leadership quickly. Ciscomani was selected to deliver the Republican response to the State of the Union in Spanish. After delivering a powerful speech in support of McCarthy for House speaker, Ciscomani was rewarded with a position on the House Appropriations Committee.
Rep. Tony Gonzales
Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-TX) emerged as a centrist GOP member who is often a thorn in House leadership's side, particularly when it comes to hot-button topics such as immigration and gun safety.
Gonzales led a group of centrist GOP representatives who derailed Rep. Chip Roy's (R-TX) border measure that would deny entry to certain migrants, calling it "un-Christian" and "anti-immigrant." He is not afraid to blast Democrats and Republicans for faking interest in the border crisis to push their own agendas. Gonzales even accused Republicans of worrying more about possible victories in 2024 than about matters plaguing their districts.
The Texas representative also criticized both parties for rhetoric surrounding the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, calling it "out of control on both sides."
"I think a lot of people are done with the political rhetoric. They want solutions, and whichever presidential candidate is going to bring real solutions to their lives is going to get their vote," Gonzales said in a March interview.
Gonzales has voted outside of his party line on many occasions. He was the sole GOP vote against the House rules package, stating that McCarthy's concession to far-right lawmakers may lead to a cut in defense spending. On the other side, he also voted in favor of the same-sex marriage bill and the gun safety bill that eventually became the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act.
“What I saw there were a lot of members that were in vulnerable positions, and somebody had to get out front and take these arrows,” Gonzales told the Hill. “It’s not fun, you know, getting beat up on certain things. But when it’s the right thing to do, I think somebody has to lead that charge.”
Rep. James Comer
Rep. James Comer (R-KY) set his sights on China the moment he became chairman of the House Oversight Committee. Most recently, he has concentrated on Chinese-linked payments to members of the Biden family, saying that it is evidence the president is being dishonest about his son's business dealings.
Comer has dug his heels in with the investigation, discovering more than $1.3 million in payments to Biden family members and associated companies linked to Hunter Biden's associate Rob Walker, who has ties to Chinese companies. The chairman said the committee's focus is to uncover whether there are "national security implications" from these transactions, which Biden and White House aides have adamantly denied.
He believes there are 11 more business deals between China and the Biden family. Comer even accused the Treasury Department of obstructing investigations into Biden family business dealings.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Comer also made headlines for his comments on the Chinese surveillance balloon that entered the U.S. The balloon gained notoriety when it appeared over Montana before traveling east across the U.S. for multiple days. An F-22 shot it down once it reached the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of South Carolina, on Feb. 4 due to concerns that bringing it down over U.S. territory posed a risk to civilians and civilian infrastructure.
The chairman blasted defense officials and the Biden administration for its response to the balloon and what he believed to be a lack of transparency with Congress when it came to briefing members on the nature of the balloon.