Courtney Butcher: Member services director, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.)

In a slim House Republican majority that has no shortage of public disputes and tight votes, one of the most important functions of the Speaker’s office is making sure the wide variety of the members’ viewpoints are known, heard and considered.

That job falls largely to Courtney Butcher, Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-La.) director of member services.

“I view it very much as my job to make sure that he has the opportunity … that he is interfacing with a variety of different members in our conference — whether it’s geography, whether it’s ideology, whether it’s tenure in the House, chairs to rank-and-file members,” Butcher said.

The stakes can be high, but Butcher stressed that no job is too small.

“Some days you may be talking about policy and a whip count, and ensuring members’ priorities get on the floor, or a great op-ed placed,” Butcher said. “Other days, you are lugging catering because all of a sudden, the catering is late and you have a member dinner, and guess what, there’s no one else there to help because it’s 7:30 p.m.”

A former seventh grade teacher with more than a decade of experience on the Hill, Butcher joined Johnson’s office after he was elected to the Speakership following former Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s (R-Calif.) ouster.

The mid-Congress switch-up did not faze Butcher, who is used to joining leadership offices and hitting the ground running. She started her previous job as member services director of the House Republican Conference after it replaced former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) with Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) as chair.

Dealing with the intense management of ultra-slim House majorities is the new normal — but for Butcher, it has shaped her understanding of the members services role. 

“I never had a 20-seat majority to fiddle with — like, ‘Oh, we can do this on the other,” Butcher said. “This is just kind of how we do it, and how we make it work.”