Which Committees Could Franken Get?
Assuming that Al Franken is finally declared the winner of the Minnesota Senate race after the current litigation, exactly which committees could he end up serving on?
Harry Reid's office last night released the "final" list of Democratic committee assignments. They couldn't have been truly final, though, because there are currently three Dem vacancies: Minnesota, Colorado and New York. And so several committees had some "To Be Announced" slots still open:
• Special Committee on Aging - 3
• Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry - 2
• Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs - 1
• Environment and Public Works - 1
• Foreign Relations - 1
• Health, Education, Labor and Pensions - 1
• Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs - 1
• Indian Affairs - 1
It would appear that all three incoming Senators could end up being put on the Aging Committee. After that there will be eight slots to go around.
Reid's office told TPMDC that no decisions have yet been made on specific committees for either Franken, Senator-designate Michael Bennet from Colorado, or Senator TBD (D-NY).
Franken spokesperson Jess McIntosh told TPMDC that she wasn't there for Franken's conversation with Harry Reid yesterday about committee assignments, and wasn't aware of the specific details. Said McIntosh: "Given his wide range of interests, I'm sure he'll be thrilled with whatever the selection is."
Josh
Matt
Eric
Brian
Aging Comm. would work for Al- he talked quite a bit about Seniors on the campaign trail this year- Medicare Part D and so forth.
The Unions would definitely have a friend in AL making Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions a good one for him.
Al has great plans for MN and wind-power, so I'm really hoping for Environment and Public Works.
January 22, 2009 2:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hell yeah! Franken on HEL&P would rock. Give him Banking, too. I'd love to watch him grill bankers extra crispy at Seante hearings.
January 22, 2009 2:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
Colorado should probably get Indian Affairs. Beyond that, I hope Al Franken gets on the most powerful committees he can, since he will probably be the most liberal out of the three, I want him to be able to maximize his impact.
January 22, 2009 2:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
One would think Indian affairs could also be appropriate for a guy from Minnesota. They have about a zillion Indian Casinos there.
But I agree, he should shoot for the active cmte's that will be part of the major Obama initiatives. Env., Banking, and Healthcare for example. A progressive voice will be welcomes and needed.
January 22, 2009 2:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
Arrrgh..."welcomed" and needed.
January 22, 2009 2:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'd like to see Al on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, so he could apply his wit to smacking around Joe Lieberman.
January 22, 2009 2:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
Slightly OT (but not very)-
Hypothetically speaking, IF Coleman were to win this somehow, would he now be MN's junior Senator, as he's been out of office for some weeks now, thereby making Klobuchar the senior Senator no matter who wins?
Not that it matters, but I'm curious
January 22, 2009 2:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm pretty sure that Senate tenure is cumulative, so were heaven forbid, Norm to return, he would still have seniority over any Senator with less than six years of tenure.
As to committees, I don't see how you could have a Banking Committee without a Senator from NY, but Schumer is already on the committee.
Since Bennett is an educator, I would expect he gets the HELP seat.
I'd expect Franken and Bennett to get the Ag seats, despite NY having substantial Ag interests as well.
I don't think putting Al on Lieberman's committee (Homeland) would be a wise idea. Better to let one of the others have it.
So I think Franken should get Ag and Environment, but Klobuchar is already on it Environment, so I guess it will be Indian affairs in addition to Ag for Franken.
January 22, 2009 3:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
Did they already fill Craig and Obama's seats on the Veterans Affairs committee?
January 22, 2009 3:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
Aging would be an appropriate committee. Franken was one of the leading voices in debunking and defeating Bush's privatization of Social Security.
January 22, 2009 5:52 PM | Reply | Permalink