WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Jack Reed today announced that, with Democrats taking control of the Senate, he will regain his old seat on the Appropriations Committee.
The powerful committee has jurisdiction over all discretionary legislation in the Senate, helping decide which federal programs will be funded and how much money they will receive. Reed had been a member of the committee until 2002, when Republicans gained a majority in the Senate.
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“My priorities on the Appropriations Committee are … health care, education, the environment and expanding economic opportunity for our state and the nation,” Reed said.
Thanks to a special waiver, he also will be allowed to retain his seat on the Armed Services Committee. Party rules generally limit Democrats to service on only one of the three “Super-A” committees (Appropriations, Armed Services and Finance) plus Commerce. The waiver recognizes “his leadership on Iraq and defense,” Reed’s office said.
The West Point graduate and former Army Ranger will be only the fifth senator since 1947 to serve simultaneously on the Appropriations and Armed Services Committees.
Reed also will retain his current seats on the Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, which oversees financial institutions, monetary policy, housing and mass transit; and Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP).
But he will step down from the House-Senate Joint Economic Committee, on which he is now the top Democrat. The JEC, made up of members of the House and the Senate, reviews economic conditions and makes recommendations regarding economic policy.
Meanwhile, Reed will also gain in seniority when the 110th Congress convenes in January, becoming the Senate’s 55th most senior member, up from 60th most senior senator in the 109th Congress. Within the Democratic Caucus, he will rise from his current rank of 29th most senior senator to 27th most senior of 51 Democratic senators in the new Congress.
Republican Sen. Lincoln D. Chafee, whose 7-1/2 year run will end in January, is a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Environmental and Public Works, and Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
