House GOP flocks to cable news as new majority takes center stage

Editor’s note: Rep. Nancy Mace (S.C.) criticized then-President Trump in the wake of the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol insurrection but did not vote for his impeachment. The information was incorrect in an earlier version of this story.

More and more House Republicans are showing up on cable news as the party settles into its majority in the chamber.

The trend was on full display during the dramatic race for the House Speakership, when dozens of GOP lawmakers flocked to the cable airwaves to discuss now-Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s (R-Calif.) battle for the gavel.

A recent internal count shared with The Hill found that more than 50 GOP lawmakers appeared on CNN alone last week.

Some are relative newcomers to the cable news circuit, while others have appeared regularly on various shows across a number of networks.

Here are a few House GOP members who cable news viewers might see more of in the coming months.

Rep. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio)  

Rep. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio) has frequently appeared on cable news shows in recent weeks to discuss the Speaker’s race and the controversy surrounding Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.). (Greg Nash)

Davidson, 52, is a former special operations officer in the U.S. Army who was first elected in 2016 to fill former House Speaker John Boehner’s seat.

He’s appeared frequently on cable news to discuss the Speaker’s race and the controversy surrounding newly elected Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.).

During his appearances, Davidson has offered some candid thoughts, telling CNN’s Wolf Blitzer that the embattled Santos, who is facing calls to resign for lying about his resume and personal biography, “hasn’t earned my trust.”

Davidson nominated McCarthy for the Speakership during the election’s fifth of 15 votes and has separately gone on the record criticizing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for making an address to a joint meeting of Congress, last month.

During another CNN interview, Davidson said he was not sure McCarthy could get to 218 votes for Speaker. Davidson was right; McCarthy ultimately won 216 votes for Speaker, with other GOP lawmakers voting present.

Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.)  

Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) is seen before Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis gives an address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday, May 17, 2022. (Greg Nash)

Johnson, who came to Congress in 2019 after winning South Dakota’s lone spot in the lower chamber, has not been a regular on cable news until recently.

He appeared on CNN’s new morning show this week to caution against his party’s leadership kicking Democrats off committees now that they have claimed the majority, but argued that Democrats had set precedent for political vengeance.

“I said when Nancy Pelosi started kicking Republicans off committees that this was going to go to a bad spot,” Johnson said, referring to Rep. Pelosi, the former Democratic Speaker from California.

“I don’t think that the Speaker should just be kicking the opposition off of committees just willy nilly. But this is the new normal. This is what Nancy Pelosi has created. I think it is very difficult in this environment for Republicans to unilaterally disarm,” he said.

Johnson, 46, has separately made headlines this week with the introduction of the GOP’s proposed “Keep the Nine” Bill, which would limit the number of justices on the U.S. Supreme Court amid calls from some liberals to expand the high court.

Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.)

Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) speaks with Reps. Chip Roy (R-Texas) and Scott Perry (R-Pa.) during the fifth ballot for Speaker on the second day of the 118th session of Congress. (Greg Nash)

Donalds, 44, has been a darling of the Republican base and conservative media ecosystem since bursting onto the political scene two years ago.

Several of the McCarthy holdouts nominated Donalds for the Speakership during the series of votes, some of whom urged Republicans to make history by electing the first Black Speaker of the House.

Democrats, who find themselves in the minority following last fall’s midterm elections, nominated Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), for the Speakership before each of the 15 votes.

Donalds this week made a widely buzzed-about prime-time appearance on Joy Reid’s MSNBC talk show, sparring with the host during an interview that at times grew hostile.

“The reality is that a lot of members actually do believe in my ability to lead,” Donalds told Reid. “They do. Am I to be despised for my youth because I served one term? My members know I have the ability to engage other members through the conference, but it’s even bigger than that.”

The interview received heavy coverage this week, particularly among right-leaning news websites, which praised Donalds for how he handled Reid’s line of questioning.

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.)  

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) discusses the House Rules package after a closed-door House Republican conference meeting on Tuesday, January 10, 2023. (Greg Nash)

Mace, 45, is not a newcomer to cable news, but she has positioned herself as a go-to source for networks to turn to for analysis and insight on the internal dynamics of her party and congressional politics writ large.

The South Carolina legislator appeared several times on a number of networks during the Speaker’s race and this week made an early-morning appearance on CNN to talk about the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) computer meltdown that grounded flights across the country for several hours on Wednesday.

“We will have to bring in the head of the FAA and others to explain to Congress and the American people what happened,” said Mace, who has served on the House Transportation Committee. “People should be able to fly on a random Wednesday morning and know that their flights are going to take off safely and securely. And we have a lot of — more questions than answers at this point.”

Mace, who criticized former President Trump following the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, has also used hits on cable news to criticize Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), a loyalist to Trump and one the final remaining McCarthy holdouts.

Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) 

Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) speaks to reporters after a closed-door House Republican conference meeting on Tuesday, January 10, 2023. (Greg Nash)

Comer, a former candidate for governor in Kentucky, is the incoming chairman of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee. He is another leading House Republican who is likely to get a decent dose of face time on cable news in the coming months as the GOP gears up to investigate the Biden administration.

President Biden is under new scrutiny this week after two batches of classified documents were found at his Washington think tank and his home in Delaware, sending Republican critics into a frenzy and renewing calls for investigations.

Appearing on Jake Tapper’s CNN program late last week, Comer, 50, vowed to have “the backs of the American taxpayers” as his committee conducts oversight of the executive branch, specifically on spending.

“So, we’re concerned about the massive spending,” Comer told Tapper just hours before McCarthy was elected Speaker during a dramatic final vote. “We know there are reports of waste, fraud, and abuse of the unemployment insurance fund with some of the COVID money with these grants that are handed out in many of these government agencies. So, we just want to get to work and do our job and try to make sure that taxpayer dollars aren’t being wasted.”

—Updated at 1:48 p.m.

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