CQ ($) is reporting that the bargaining is over regarding the Specter switch, and new organizing resolutions are in place, but no deal is reported on seating Sen. Al Franken (D-MN).
As much as I'd hoped Senate Democrats could use Specter's defection as leverage on Franken, I guess I can't complain too much when Republicans refuse the deal and we keep the deposit. If the position I described had anything to do with the negotiations, it seems they went down like this:
Dems: Seat Franken now, or we'll keep all of Specter's committee seats, and give ourselves even bigger advantages on those panels.
Republicans: OK, fine. Keep the seats.
Dems: Well, OK then.
So we kept them.
Here's the CQ report:
Under the two organizing resolutions — one for the majority (SR 130) and one for the minority (SR 131) — approved Tuesday evening, no additional GOP members will be added to the five panels, and Specter will simply be counted as a Democrat rather than a Republican.
That approach will give Democrats a six-member edge, rather than four, on Appropriations; their margin on Judiciary, Environment and Public Works, Veterans’ Affairs and Special Aging grows from three to five members on each committee.
Republicans could have pushed to reopen negotiations on committee ratios, but a GOP aide noted that doing so was unlikely because "it just opens a can of worms."
So, OK. Fine. I hope we at least see some better bills coming out of committee.
Oh, one other item probably of interest to some of you:
Specter, who said last week that he would retain his seniority as though he had been elected as a Democrat in 1980, will be stripped of his seniority on his committees through the 111th Congress.
Jim Manley, a spokesman for Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., confirmed late Tuesday that Specter would be the least senior Democrat on the Judiciary, Appropriations, Environment and Public Works, Veterans’ Affairs and Special Aging committees.
But that's only temporary. When the Senate reorganizes for the 112th Congress, it's all open for negotiations again. And note:
Manley said Specter’s seniority for the purpose of committee assignments would be restored in the 112th Congress — an important allowance, since he would then outrank many of his colleagues on those panels. Democrats almost always defer to seniority when making chairman assignments.
Senate Republicans reeeeeeeeeeeeally don't want to give an inch on Franken. At least we took our pound of flesh. Back in January, Republicans were seriously trying to cap Democratic committee advantages to no more than two seats on every panel. Reid put the screws to them on that, and he got everything that was coming to him on this one, too.
Note, too, that this deal retains some leverage over Specter, as well, who's been a little too frisky lately. With big votes coming up (and expected to continue coming up) for the balance of the 111th Congress, negotiations on his seniority in the 112th will no doubt hinge to some extent on how he conducts himself from here on in.