Donald Trump's foes face a roster stacked with officials who publicly support making him the nominee. | AP Photo Never Trump movement gets little help from convention rules panel roster The mogul's opponents are hoping the panel will help them to oust the presumptive nominee, but the panel's roster, released Thursday, makes that unlikely.

The Republican National Committee has released the list of the 112 members of the upcoming convention rules committee — a panel that will be the focal point of a struggle by anti-Donald Trump delegates to block the mogul's nomination at the Republican National Convention next month.

But Trump foes hoping the panel will help their cause are in for a disappointment, as the roster is stacked with officials who publicly support making Trump the nominee.


The list, which was sent to which was sent to members of the committee late Thursday and obtained by POLITICO, includes 38 members of the Republican National Committee — more than a third of the entire rules panel. So far, RNC members have largely taken their cues from chairman Reince Priebus and towed the line in support of Trump. RNC members like Henry Barbour of Mississippi, Harvey Tettlebaum of Missouri, Morton Blackwell of Virginia and Bill Palatucci of New Jersey will be returning for repeat appearances on the convention rules committee.

Nineteen members of the committee also served on the rules panel in 2012 and may have an advantage when it comes to understanding and maneuvering through the potentially lengthy process. This group includes Trump supporters like Massachusetts's Vincent DeVito, Pennsylvania's Lawrence Tabas and Tennessee's John Ryder, who's also counsel to the RNC.

Dozens of other delegates on the committee have pledged loyalty to Trump or support for his nomination. Even many of his critics on the panel have stopped short of suggesting they would seek to overturn his nomination, though the stop-Trump crowd insists many are just keeping their powder dry.

Only a few Trump opponents who have promised to fight to stop him in Cleveland are on the list, including Colorado's Guy Short and Kendal Unruh. Curly Haugland, who's long championed the notion that delegates are free to vote their conscience — even without changing the party's rules — is also on the list.

Unruh has been leading a group called "Free the Delegates," which is working to identify delegates to support adding a "conscience clause" to the Republican Party rules. It's a move aimed at releasing delegates from their obligations to back Trump at the convention. But so far, among rules committee members, only she and Short have publicly embraced the effort.

The committee will be chaired by Utah RNC Committeewoman Enid Mickelsen and co-chaired by Massachusetts RNC Committeeman Ron Kaufman (who aren't counted among the 112 members).

The list also includes a few prominent elected officials, including Utah's Sen. Mike Lee and his wife Sharon, as well as U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce of New Mexico. Four state and territorial GOP chairmen make the list, including American Samoa's Utu Abe Malae, Kansas' Kelly Arnold, South Carolina's Matt Moore and Wyoming's Matt Micheli. Five state lawmakers are included among the rules panel as well.

The committee is slated to meet for a 90-minute orientation on July 13 in Cleveland and will hold 10-hour meetings on July 14 and 15. The RNC has also set aside a third 10-hour block if necessary on July 16. The committee will meet one final time after the convention comes to order on July 18 to formally approve its rules and send them to the convention floor for final debate and approval.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story incorrectly identified the home state of Morton Blackwell. He is from Virginia.