WAS H I NG TON — Rep. Kevin Hern (R-Tulsa) successfully made a play for a leadership position that increases Oklahoma’s clout in the House.

Hern successfully challenged Gary Palmer (R-Alabama) to become Chair of the Republican Policy Committee. He will join the House Republican Conference’s leadership as its’ fifthhighest- ranking member for the 119th Congress.

But the committee has outsized importance in determining the legislation the GOP backs.

“The most interesting thing about that committee is that it’s responsible for the legislative agenda,” Emily Stacey, a political science professor at Rose State College, said. “Kind of getting the priorities and policy whipped together if you will.”

“I’m honored to be elected by my peers to serve as the Republican Policy Chair in the next Congress,” Hern said. “The next two years will shape our country’s future, and I’m ready to roll my sleeves up and deliver the policy wins America deserves.”

Hern told Gaylord News he hopes to deliver on the promises Trump has made.

“We got to execute what President Trump was given a mandate to do in this election,” Hern said. “We’ve kept our majority in the House, we’ve won the majority in the Senate. We’ve got a lot to do for the American people.”

Hern announced his candidacy for the chair on Nov. 7.

“I’m running for Policy Chair in the 119th Congress because effective policy work has never been more important,” Hern wrote in a post on X announcing his candidacy. “The American people have put their faith in us and it is time for us to deliver.”

Hern told Gaylord News that he was asked by members of the Republican Party to run for the position.

“The reason I ran was because I was asked by my colleagues to run and take the processes we did at the Republican Study Committee where we involved our steering committees or committees in general on the policy drive,” Hern said. “The policies aren’t my policies they’re policies from all of the different regions across the country.”

Hern distributed a packet to House Republicans on Nov. 12 outlining some of his endorsements including Rep. Tom Cole (RMoore).

“Strong policy will be crucial to the success of our Republican Conference, and Kevin Hern’s leadership is exactly what we need to guide us forward,” Cole wrote in a post on X endorsing Hern.

As Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, Cole is one of the most powerful men in Washington.

In the same packet, Hern listed two endorsements from current Policy Committee members: Rep. Harriet Hageman (R-Wyoming) and Rep. Dan Meuser (R-New York) Fellow Oklahoman Rep. Frank Lucas (RCheyenne) told Gaylord News he would be voting for Hern.

“I always vote for my fellow Oklahomans,” Lucas said.

In the 118th Congress, Hern was the chairman of the Republican Study Committee, a less obscure committee but one that is not considered part of the Republican Conference’s leadership.

“It’s a fairly obscure group,” Charles Finocchiaro, Associate Director of the Carl Albert Congressional Research and Studies Center, said about the Republican Policy Committee.

This was his second time making a move for a leadership position in just two years.

In 2023, during the upheaval that followed the removal of former Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (RCalifornia), Hern briefly ran for Speaker before current Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisana) secured the position.

If Hern’s goal is to leverage the Policy Committee Chair for a higher-ranking position, he might not have much luck.

“I looked at the recent folks who have held that position, and it’s not been the stepping-stone to the speakership or higher party positions in recent years at least,” Finocchiaro said. “In some cases, folks have left the house, Senator Lankford when he was in the House was actually chair.”

Senator James Lankford (R-Oklahoma City) was chair of the committee during the 113th Congress.

Kevin Eagleson is reporting from Gaylord News’ Washington bureau this fall as part of an OU Daily scholarship.

Gaylord News is a reporting project of the University of Oklahoma Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication. For more stories by Gaylord News go to GaylordNews.net.