North Texas Rep. Pat Fallon running to lead GOP on influential House Oversight Committee

By Gabby Birenbaum, The Texas Tribune
April 24, 2026

WASHINGTON — Rep. Pat Fallon, R-Sherman, is running to be the top Republican on the House Oversight Committee, an influential panel known for its investigative power and frequent partisan brawling.

Fallon, a former state senator who has represented his North Texas district since 2021, is the only declared candidate in the race to succeed Chairman James Comer, R-Kentucky, who is term-limited out of leading the panel next Congress. Republicans can serve a maximum of three terms atop a committee, with occasional exceptions.

Under Comer, the Oversight Committee investigated the Biden administration — including the former president’s use of an autopen — and recommended prosecution of his son and brother. The panel also has probed the origins of the pandemic, the Jeffrey Epstein files and social services program fraud.

Fallon is not the only Texan looking to lead a committee on Capitol Hill. Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Amarillo, is considering a run for the top Republican spot on the House Armed Services Committee, according to a spokesperson for his office.

Jackson, like Fallon, is in his third term. His predecessor in the 13th Congressional District, former Clarendon Rep. Mac Thornberry, served as both chair and ranking member of the Armed Services Committee during part of the Obama administration and throughout President Donald Trump’s first term.

Jackson, a retired Navy officer and close Trump ally, would have competition if he chooses to run. Reps. Rob Wittman, R-Virginia, and Trent Kelly, R-Mississippi, have both announced their intent to run; Wittman, however, is facing tough reelection prospects after Virginia’s redistricting effort upended his seat to favor Democrats.

The House Armed Services Committee is responsible for negotiating the annual National Defense Authorization Act, which sets military policy and governs how defense appropriations are spent — giving the panel’s leaders significant power. As a must-pass bill, the NDAA has a long bipartisan history, but has become more contentious in recent years.

If Fallon and Jackson run and are successful, their ascension would help mitigate some of the looming loss of seniority the Texas delegation will experience next year, due to a series of retirements, primary losses and redistricting. Texas currently has three committee chairs, but one — Lubbock Rep. Jodey Arrington, who sits atop the Budget Committee — is retiring at the end of his term.

Fallon has served on the Oversight Committee for all three of his terms in Congress, and he was selected as a member of the bipartisan House task force investigating the 2024 assassination attempt on Trump.

In a letter to fellow committee members, Fallon said he would use the perch to continue the panel’s investigations into federal fraud and look into Marxist indoctrination coming from both “foreign adversaries and domestic extremists.”

“Looking ahead, we must counter the left’s ceaseless attacks on President Trump so that he can focus on delivering real results for the American people,” Fallon said. “Too many people on the other side of the aisle seem to hate President Trump more than they love our country.”

Republicans select committee leaders through the leadership-controlled House Steering Committee, whose nominees are then voted on by the full GOP conference. Fallon is currently about halfway up the Oversight dais — a ranking of seniority among Republican members — but several more senior committee members already chair other panels or are leaving Congress. And Republicans are not bound to elevate their most senior members, giving newer members a chance to lead.

A source close to Fallon said he has been talking with GOP colleagues about his Oversight bid “throughout this past Congress,” and “based on my knowledge, no one else has expressed interest in running as well.”

Jackson, meanwhile, has accumulated less seniority than either Kelly or Wittman. But he noted to Politico that Republican leaders consider factors beyond seniority and argued that his 25-year Navy record “counts for something.”

The GOP, whose majority is already slim, is facing a tough midterm election, with Democrats favored to take the lower chamber come 2027. If Republicans keep the majority, their committee leaders would be chairs, with the power to set hearings, issue subpoenas and pick which bills to advance. If not, they would be ranking members, leading the minority party in committee.

If Fallon wins the Oversight race and Republicans are in the minority, his role would become much more defensive. Democrats would likely use subpoena power to probe the Trump administration on everything from the Epstein files to ICE conduct to government contracts.

“God forbid we would go into the minority and I would become a ranking member,” Fallon told Fox News in an interview. “We have to defend President Trump because these folks are infected with wokeness and all they’re going to do is talk about impeachment, 25th Amendment and take their eye off the ball again for American prosperity.”

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This article first appeared on The Texas Tribune.