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The new Republican chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Lamar Smith of Texas, has passed over an outspoken immigration hard-liner and member of the Tea Party caucus for chairman of the immigration subcommittee.

In an announcement Friday, Mr. Smith unexpectedly gave the job of chairman of the subcommittee on Immigration Policy and Enforcement to Representative Elton Gallegly, a conservative Republican from California.

Representative Steve King of Iowa, who was the senior Republican on the subcommittee in the last Congress and was expected to take over as chairman, was named vice chairman instead. Mr. King is known for his high-profile support for measures to crack down on illegal immigration.

In an interview late Friday, Mr. King made no secret of his surprise and disappointment. “I don’t know I can explain it,” he said.

“But the speaker has clearly said that our legislative agenda is the Pledge to America,” Mr. King said, referring to the newly inaugurated Speaker of the House, John A. Boehner of Ohio, and a manifesto Republicans endorsed before the November elections, in which they won a strong majority in that chamber. Mr. King was critical of the pledge, saying, “There is no immigration agenda in it, period.”

He added, “If that is the speaker’s will — that there be no immigration agenda — then this decision would begin to be rational.”

An aide on the Judiciary Committee said Mr. Smith had followed protocol, since Mr. Gallegly was more senior than Mr. King on the full committee. The aide, who asked to speak anonymously following guidance from Mr. Smith, said Mr. Gallegly had requested the immigration subcommittee post.

In practice, Mr. Gallegly does not differ substantially with Mr. King on immigration. Mr. Gallegly, who represents a southern California district, supports tough border enforcement and opposes measures to give legal status to illegal immigrants. He has described himself as one of the “top 10 illegal immigration hawks in Congress.”

But Mr. King, as top Republican on the subcommittee, had made immigration a hallmark issue, appearing frequently in the media to denounce illegal immigrants and recount crime waves and job losses he said they had brought to the country.

Coming from Texas, Mr. Smith has been more sympathetic than Mr. King to Republican concerns that harsh rhetoric on immigration could alienate Latino voters. A chorus of Latinos said Thursday they were offended by Mr. King’s bill to deny birthright citizenship to children of illegal immigrants.

“We urge our conservative brothers and sisters to be careful regarding the message that they are sending to the fastest growing segment of our society,” said Juan Hernandez, a founder of Conservatives for Comprehensive Immigration Reform, a group that favors legalization for illegal immigrants.

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The Senate majority leader, Harry Reid of Nevada, said on Wednesday that he would try to bring up a bill that would create a path to citizenship for certain illegal immigrants who were brought to the United States as small children.

Mr. Reid tried to attach the legislation as an amendment to a big military policy bill before the midterm elections, but Republicans blocked the bill in part because they said the Democratic leader was using it as a political prop.

During his re-election campaign in Nevada, Mr. Reid said he would try again to pass the legislation, known as the Dream Act. And in a Twitter message on Wednesday evening, his office said he would try to do so in the current session as a stand-alone bill.

The House speaker, Nancy Pelosi of California, has been discussing the immigration measure with Democratic colleagues but has not yet scheduled a vote on it, a spokesman said.

The legislation would give legal residency to immigrants who arrived in the United States before age 16 and resided here for at least five years, graduated from high school and completed two years of college or military service. They would be subject to background checks, could not have a criminal record, and even if successful would still not be eligible for benefits like Pell grant scholarships.

In a statement, Mr. Reid said: “If there is a bipartisan bill that makes sense for our country economically, from a national security perspective and one that reflects American values, it is the Dream Act. This bill will give children brought illegally to this country at no fault of their own the chance to earn legal status. Children brought to this country before the age of 16 who graduate high school, stay out of trouble and go on to serve in the military or to college would be eligible to earn permanent resident status after meeting certain other requirements.”

Mr. Reid noted that the legislation has enjoyed bipartisan support in the past and that he hoped it would again, now that the campaign season has ended.

“Secretaries of defense from both parties have supported this bill because it strengthens our Armed Forces,” Mr. Reid said in his statement. In fact, this bill has a long history of bipartisan support, and was originally co-authored by Republicans. The students who earn legal status through the Dream Act will make our country more competitive economically, spurring job creation, contributing to our tax base and strengthening communities.”

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