New Judiciary Committee members
on Nov 15, 2006 at 10:48 am
The congressional committee that is central to the Senate’s role in reviewing new federal judicial nominations, the Senate Judiciary Committee, will have two new liberal Democrats beginning in January, it now appears.
Senator Ben Cardin of Maryland, a longtime member of the House, would join the Democratic side of the Committee, along with a new senator from Rhode Island, Sheldon Whitehouse, a former U.S. attorney and state attorney genereal in that state.
Nevada’s Sen. Harry Reid, who becomes the majority leader in the new Democratic-controlled Senate, indicated on Tuesday he expects the Judiciary Committee to have 10 Democrats and eight Republicans in the 108th Congress. Cardin and Whitehouse join eight continuing members of the Judiciary Committee, including the new chairman. Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont.
If the Republicans agree with the allocation to them of eight seats on that Committee, one present member will have to leave the Committee (unless there is no other change in membership on that side). One of their ten members in the last Congress, Sen. Mike DeWine, was defeated for reelection. The lowest member in seniority on the GOP side is Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, one of the panel’s — and the Senate’s — most conservative members..
