U.S. Rep. Michael Guest of Mississippi is campaigning to lead the House Homeland Security Committee, according to the congressional news website Punchbowl News.
Guest, a Republican who has represented the state’s 3rd Congressional District since 2019, is one of four GOP members competing to lead the influential committee, according to the news outlet.
The House Republican Steering Committee will meet on Monday night to pick the next Homeland Security Committee.
The committee chairmanship opened up because the committee’s previous chairman, U.S. Rep. Mark Green of Tennessee, announced he would resign from Congress as soon as the House passed President Donald Trump’s latest spending bill, which he signed into law on July 4.
“I look forward to the possible opportunity to work alongside President Trump as Chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security,” Guest told Mississippi Today in a statement. “As the former Vice Chairman of the Committee and the current Chairman of the Subcommittee on Border Security and Enforcement, I have unique leadership experience to bring to this role.”
The Mississippi Republican currently leads the House Ethics Committee. During his time chairing the bipartisan committee, he has successfully authored and pushed for a resolution to expel former New York Congressman George Santos from the House chamber.
He also led the Ethics Committee during its investigation and subsequent report into the alleged misconduct of former U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida. Gaetz resigned from Congress before the committee’s work concluded on Gaetz, which meant the committee no longer had jurisdiction to investigate the Florida Republican.
President Donald Trump in 2024 nominated Gaetz to become attorney general, which prompted bipartisan pressure for the committee to release its report on the Florida congressman, even though Gaetz was no longer a member of Congress. Trump eventually withdrew Gaetz’s nomination.
The committee eventually voted to release the report, but Guest objected to the decision and wrote that it deviated from the committee’s longstanding traditions.
Should Guest become the new House Homeland Security Chairman, it would mean two Mississippians would become the top party leaders on the committee. U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson is currently the top Democrat on the committee.
Thompson served as chairman of the committee from 2007 to 2011, and from 2019 to 2023.
Before Guest became a member of Congress, he was a district attorney in Madison and Rankin counties.
