Both Republicans and Democrats have named the members joining the House Ways & Means and Senate Finance Committees for the 119th Congress. These lawmakers will have particular influence over what goes in and what stays out of the massive tax bill Congress intends to enact this year.
The new members on Senate Finance are Sens. Roger Marshall (R-KS), the only new Republican on the committee; and Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Tina Smith (D-MN), Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM), Raphael Warnock (D-GA), and Peter Welch (D-VT). In the 119th Congress, the Finance Committee will have 14 Republican members and 13 Democratic members. Chair is Sen. Mike Crapo (R-ID). Ranking Member is Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR).
At Ways & Means, the new members on the Republican side are Reps. Aaron Bean (FL), Max Miller (OH), Nathaniel Moran (TX) and Rudy Yakym (IN). Democrats taking the places of retired Ways & Means members are all former members of the committee who lost their seats on the committee when the Republicans regained control of the House two years ago. The now-returning Democratic members are Reps. Brendan Boyle (PA), Stacey Plaskett (VI), and Tom Suozzi (NY).
Prospects: Ways & Means and Finance will write the specifics of the massive tax bill expected in 2025. Margins of partisan control in the House are so tiny that the minority could have at least some influence in the House, although the GOP will have the most say in what the bill looks like. Thus, these new members (and the veteran committee members) will be key in deciding the specifics of the tax bill that is coming.
NAIFA Staff Contacts: Diane Boyle – Senior Vice President – Government Relations, at dboyle@naifa.org; or Jayne Fitzgerald – Director – Government Relations, at jfitzgerald@naifa.org.