Senate Committees

Two of the most prominent committees in the U.S. Senate will get new chairmen in January.

Vice President-elect Joe Biden has chaired the Committee on Foreign Relations. And Senator Robert Byrd, Democrat of West Virginia, has announced he will relinquish his chairmanship of the Committee on Appropriations.

Normally, the successor in such a situation would be the Democrat with the next-longest seniority on the committee. On Foreign Relations, that is Christopher Dodd of Connecticut. Dodd already chairs the Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, and plans to stay in that role.

Next in seniority is John Kerry of Massachusetts. Kerry's name has been mentioned as a potential secretary of state in the Obama Administration. But, if he stays in the Senate, he will probably become chairman.

If Kerry does not take over the chair, next in line is Russ Feingold of Wisconsin. Here is an article in The Hill, describing the implications of that.

The number-two Democrat on Appropriations is Daniel Inouye of Hawaii, who is expected to become chairman in January. Here in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin is home-state pride about Inouye taking over that committee, as well as Hawaii native Barack Obama moving into the White House.

Speaking of the Foreign Relations Committee: Its House counterpart is the Committee on Foreign Affairs. A political science professor of mine had a story about how a senator helped him remember which name applies in which house of Congress. The average senator is older than the average representative in the House. Therefore, according to this senator, he and his colleagues could still have relations, but were too old to have affairs.