Jan. 24, 2023: Rebranding rift guts Blue Dog Dem ranks

Speaker Kevin McCarthy issued the new GOP roster for the House Rules Committee Monday, and he made good on his pledges to give his conference’s hard right a foothold on the powerful panel, naming Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) and Chip Roy (R-Texas) to the powerful gatekeeping panel. Norman and Roy were among the cadre initially opposing McCarthy’s speaker bid, and Massie is — how to put it? — a real pain in leadership’s ass. And our colleagues Ally Mutnick and Sarah Ferris have an exclusive report on the rift that is splitting the influential Blue Dog Coalition nearly in half following an internal dispute over whether to rebrand the moderate Democratic group. Seven of the 15 members, including Reps. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.) and Mikie Sherill (D-N.J.), are on their way out, which will leave the group with only men as its members and the smallest roster in decades. Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletter