Democratic Senate Leaders Announce 113th Congress Committee Assignments

On Wednesday (December 11) Democratic Senate leaders announced their selections for Committee assignments for the 113th Congress (subject to Democratic Caucus and full Senate approval in January). Notable from a Mississippi River Basin perspective, two freshman senators from River Basin states received slots on the Senate Agriculture Committee next year: Democratic Senators-elect Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota and Joe Donnelly of Indiana. The makeup of the environmentally-significant Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will remain unchanged on the Democratic side in the 113th Congress, while on the Energy and Natural Resources panel, Senator-elect Martin Heinrich of New Mexico and Senator-elect Mazie Hirono of Hawaii will fill two Democratic open slots.

Six Senators will preside as newly-appointed Committee Chairpersons beginning in January. They are Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Indian Affairs; Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE), Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), Budget Committee; Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL), Aging; Sen. Bernard Sanders (I-VT), Veterans' Affairs; and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

Each Committee is listed below, with anticipated committee member names presented in alphabetical order, following the Chair, and new committee members indicated in italics (the new Chairpersons are indicated with an italicized "Chair" designation).

AGRICULTURE – 113th Congress

• Stabenow – Chair
• Baucus
• Bennet
• Sherrod Brown
• Casey
• Donnelly
• Gillibrand
• Harkin
• Heitkamp
• Klobuchar
• Leahy

AGING – 113th

• Bill Nelson – Chair
• Baldwin
• Blumenthal
• Casey
• Donnelly
• Gillibrand
• Manchin
• McCaskill
• Warren
• Whitehouse
• Wyden

APPROPRIATIONS – 113th

• Inouye – Chair
• Durbin
• Feinstein
• Harkin
• Tim Johnson
• Landrieu
• Lautenberg
• Leahy
• Merkley
• Mikulski
• Murray
• Pryor
• Reed
• Shaheen
• T. Udall
• Tester

ARMED SERVICES – 113th

• Levin – Chair
• Begich
• Blumenthal
• Donnelly
• Gillibrand
• Hagan
• Kaine
• King
• Manchin
• Bill Nelson
• McCaskill
• Reed
• Shaheen
• Mark Udall

BANKING – 113th

• Tim Johnson – Chair
• Sherrod Brown
• Hagan
• Heitkamp
• Manchin
• Menendez
• Merkley
• Reed
• Schumer
• Tester
• Warner
• Warren

BUDGET – 113th

• Murray – Chair
• Baldwin
• Coons
• Kaine
• King
• Merkley
• Bill Nelson
• Sanders
• Stabenow
• Warner
• Whitehouse
• Wyden

COMMERCE – 113th

• Rockefeller – Chair
• Begich
• Blumenthal
• Boxer
• Cantwell
• Inouye
• Kerry
• Klobuchar
• Lautenberg
• McCaskill
• Pryor
• Bill Nelson
• Warner

ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES– 113th

• Wyden – Chair
• Cantwell
• Coons
• Franken
• Heinrich
• Hirono
• Tim Johnson
• Landrieu
• Manchin
• Mark Udall
• Sanders
• Stabenow

ENVIRONMENT AND PUBLIC WORKS – 113th

• Boxer – Chair
• Baucus
• Cardin
• Carper
• Gillibrand
• Lautenberg
• Merkley
• Sanders
• Tom Udall
• Whitehouse

ETHICS – 113th

• Boxer – Chair
• Sherrod Brown
• Pryor

FINANCE – 113th

• Baucus – Chair
• Bennet
• Sherrod Brown
• Cantwell
• Cardin
• Carper
• Kerry
• Menendez
• Bill Nelson
• Rockefeller
• Schumer
• Stabenow
• Wyden

FOREIGN RELATIONS – 113th

• Kerry – Chair
• Boxer
• Cardin
• Casey
• Coons
• Kaine
• Menendez
• Murphy
• Shaheen
• Tom Udall

HELP – 113th

• Harkin – Chair
• Baldwin
• Bennet
• Casey
• Franken
• Hagan
• Mikulski
• Murphy
• Murray
• Sanders
• Warren
• Whitehouse

HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS – 113th

• Carper – Chair
• Baldwin
• Begich
• Heitkamp
• Landrieu
• Levin
• McCaskill
• Pryor
• Tester

INDIAN AFFAIRS – 113th

• Cantwell –Chair
• Begich
• Franken
• Heitkamp
• Tim Johnson
• Inouye
• Tester
• Tom Udall

INTELLIGENCE – 113th

• Feinstein – Chair
• Heinrich
• King
• Mikulski
• Rockefeller
• Mark Udall
• Warner
• Wyden

JOINT ECONOMIC – 113th

• Casey – Chair
• Klobuchar
• Murphy
• Sanders
• Warner
• Heinrich

JUDICIARY – 113th

• Leahy – Chair
• Blumenthal
• Coons
• Durbin
• Feinstein
• Franken
• Hirono
• Klobuchar
• Schumer
• Whitehouse

RULES – 113th

• Schumer – Chair
• Durbin
• Feinstein
• Inouye
• King
• Leahy
• Murray
• Pryor
• Tom Udall
• Warner

SMALL BUSINESS – 113th

• Landrieu – Chair
• Cantwell
• Cardin
• Hagan
• Harkin
• Heitkamp
• Kerry
• Levin
• Pryor
• Shaheen

VETERANS’ AFFAIRS – 113th

• Sanders – Chair
• Begich
• Blumenthal
• Sherrod Brown
• Hirono
• Murray
• Rockefeller
• Tester

 Source: http://1.usa.gov/UC8klh