Look for a round of musical chairs among Republicans on the Senate Appropriations Committee, now that it is clear that Republican Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska has lost his re-election bid.
As the ranking minority member on the Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, Stevens exercised enormous influence over Defense Department earmarks, second (on the Senate side) only to his Democratic counterpart, Sen. Daniel Inouye of Hawaii, the chairman of the Defense Subcommittee. The Defense Subcommittee controls a budget that is nearly as large as the eleven other subcommittees combined. So who will take over this powerful spot? And how will the ranking minority member positions of the other subcommittees be effected?
The most likely candidate to take over Stevens position at this point would probably be Senator Thad Cochran of Mississippi. Cochran is currently the ranking member for the full Committee, and also ranking member of the Homeland Security Subcommittee.
The defeat of Stevens and the retirement of two other Republican ranking members – Senator Pete Domenici of New Mexico (Energy & Water Subcommittee) and Wayne Allard (Interior Subcommittee) – also means that there will be three new ranking members on the Committee in the new Congress. We’ll keep you posted as changes are announced.