Rep. Lou Barletta was at a hospital in mid-August helping his daughter get ready to give birth when he received a surprise call from a Donald Trump campaign aide.

The congressman, who ignored the advice of fellow Republicans when he endorsed Trump back in March, was wanted the next day at Trump Tower for a campaign meeting on national security. So off he went, hoping the baby would hold out until he returned.


Fast-forward a few months. The former mayor of Hazleton, Pennsylvania (pop. 25,000), just elected to his fourth term in the House, is helping the president-elect fill out his Cabinet and hire thousands of appointees. Barletta jokes that he can’t make eye contact with his House colleagues because so many of them are seeking jobs in the Trump administration and know his pull could make all the difference.

Barletta is a member of Washington’s newest and most exclusive club, a small band of Republican lawmakers who got behind Trump when their own party establishment had him pegged as a surefire general election loser, if he even managed to win the nomination. The few who were willing to endure the ridicule of other GOP lawmakers by placing their chips on Trump early have been vaulted from backbench obscurity to now arguably rivaling the influence of GOP congressional leaders.

They, more than the high-profile pols flocking to Trump since he won, have the ear of the president-elect. They are among a handful of gatekeepers to the soon-to-be most powerful man in the world.

“As the president-elect makes those Cabinet-level decisions, they cannot in New York be inundated with thousands of requests from people who want to serve somewhere in the Trump administration,” said Barletta, 60, who first met Trump in 2015 as a subcommittee chairman overseeing his bid to turn Washington’s historic Old Post Office building into a ritzy hotel.

“So we’re taking that information, categorizing it, getting it in order, sending it to who it needs to be sent to,” added Barletta, who cited Trump’s tough-on-immigration stand when he embraced the real estate mogul in late March.

No one exemplifies the leap to relevance better than Rep. Chris Collins. On Feb. 24, the Republican from upstate New York became the first member of Congress to endorse Trump. (Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions, Trump’s nominee for attorney general, campaigned with Trump in August 2015 but didn’t officially endorse until a few days after Collins.)

Collins, a longtime entrepreneur and businessman first elected to Congress in 2012, wasn't even sure Trump wanted his support given the candidate's anti-Washington platform. So Collins instructed his staff that month to reach out to the campaign to find out whether he should keep his endorsement low key, or play it up on national TV. A few hours later he was surprised to receive a voicemail from Trump thanking him for his support and encouraging him to go big. Anything Collins could do to win over other Washington insiders would be appreciated, Trump added.

Collins, to this day, has the message saved on his phone.

Collins soon set about to organize the early Trump backers. They dubbed themselves the “Trump Caucus.”

It was, Collins said, a “pretty lonely group.” There was Barletta, who advised Trump on immigration and transportation policy; Rep. Tom Marino (R-Pa.), who with Barletta helped Trump win the Pennsylvania primary in April, earning them the nicknames “thunder and lightning” from Trump’s team; Rep. Duncan Hunter, a combative Californian who wrote op-eds touting Trump in his Democratic state; and Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), an invaluable female surrogate who argued that Trump, despite his controversial comments about women, would implement policies important to mothers.

They met weekly and acted as what Collins called Trump’s “chief salesmen” within the House Republican Conference — which responded, by and large, with a mix of dismissiveness and alarm.

Not so much anymore.

“As all these members are coming up to me, many of them seeking Cabinet-level positions, and a few agency heads, a couple ... undersecretary positions,” Collins said. “We’re floating [names] back to the campaign.” When he feels particularly strongly about a person’s qualifications, Collins said he’ll “directly contact people like Jared Kushner,” Trump’s son-in-law, to give his blessing.

Another House member with a direct line to Trump’s inner circle is Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes. The Californian wasn’t an initial endorser, but early this year, he made a standing offer to brief any of the Republican presidential hopefuls on national security issues.

Trump’s campaign took him up on it in March. From those meetings, Nunes grew close with retired Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, a top Trump hand who has just been nominated to be the president-elect’s national security adviser.

Since the election, Trump’s camp has turned to Nunes for recommendations on filling national security posts. One of his suggested picks, Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-Kan.), was tapped for CIA director.

“Now that I’m on the [transition] executive committee, my phone is ringing off the hook from all over the country — people who know me are sending their résumés,” said Nunes, who received a call from Trump just hours before the news about Pompeo dropped.

Some of the early Trump supporters are being mentioned for plum administration jobs. In May, Budget Committee Chairman Tom Price (R-Ga.) enlisted eight other committee chairmen to join him in making a joint endorsement of Trump. It made a big media splash, and Trump Caucus members say it was a huge boon for the candidate — the first sign that senior members of the House were coming around, despite GOP leadership’s lukewarm response to the reality-TV star turned candidate.

Price has been floated for secretary of Health and Human Services.Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas), one of the other eight chairmen who endorsed Trump then, is being considered for Treasury secretary. Trump’s team is also remaining in touch with other committee chairmen who helped craft his policy platforms, including Veterans Affairs Chairman Jeff Miller (R-Fla.).

Rep. Darrell Issa also likely earned Trump’s enduring allegiance. The California congressman met Trump years ago through his good friend Phil Ruffin, who owns Treasure Island Casino in Las Vegas. Issa stood by Trump through the bruising general election, even as he was attacked relentlessly for it in his own, very competitive race. The longtime congressman signed on as a national security adviser to the campaign hours before the “Access Hollywood” video surfaced, but declined to back away. He went on to narrowly win his race.

Rep. Chris Collins seconds Donald Trump's nomination at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland on July 19. | AP Photo

At one Trump Caucus meeting over the summer, Issa whipped out his cellphone and called Trump directly, then put the candidate on speakerphone to talk with other members present. Sources say he, like many of the early Trump supporters, talks with Trump occasionally and is likely to remain a key ally in Congress.

As for Collins, these are easily the headiest days since he arrived in Washington four years ago.

On a recent episode of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert," the host mocked Collins for defending Trump's Twitter habits. The 66-year-old lawmaker also seconded Trump’s nomination at the Republican National Convention and over the course of the campaign did more than 150 media appearances defending Trump.

Tickled by the Colbert clip, Collins says it’s proof he’s “hit the big time.” In fact, the morning after Trump won the election, he and his daughter Ivanka called Collins to discuss the next steps. Pre-empting any suggestion of an administration job as a reward for his help — Collins was repelled by the idea of 70-hour workweeks and moving his family to Washington — he said he wanted to serve as Trump’s liaison to Congress.

Trump loved the idea. During a visit to Capitol Hill the next morning, he asked Speaker Paul Ryan to create the post. Ryan called Collins that night to say it was a done deal: He would be Trump’s point man in Congress.

“Mr. Trump, I have come to find out, very much values loyalty," Collins said. "I didn’t know that on Feb. 24, but I’ve come to know that. ... To know these people and have them on your speed dial is awesome, humbling.”