Chris Dodd has decided to remain Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, as has been reported. This move has several implications for the healthcare reform bill should it be introduced on the reconciliation rule.
Follow on:
See, Dodd staying on as Chairman over at Banking has opened up the Chairmanship of the Health Committee. As Stroszek notes in this diary, Harkin has decided to take Ted Kennedy's old perch atop the Senate Health Committee.
The question that follows is who will take over Harkin's old Agriculture Committee? Here are the members in line:
Pat Leahy, VT
Kent Conrad, ND
Max Baucus, MT
Blanche Lincoln, AR
The top three on this list already chair Judiciary, Budget, and Finance respectively. Now I'm going to speculate a bit:
- Leahy loves the Judiciary committee more than life itself. I can't see him leaving that committee to take over Ag.
- Baucus has the 2nd most powerful committee in all of Congress. I can't see him giving that up. (Plus, all that BigInsurance $ makes BigAg $ look like peanuts)
- Lincoln would LOVE the perch as it would give her increased power in her re-election fight. You should expect Tyson Foods to her aid in a hurry if she gets that perch.
That leaves Conrad. Conrad could leave Budget, a fairly boring committee and go to Agriculture. That would be very important deal because under Senate rules, any bill introduced under reconciliation requires that the Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee be the 'Floor Manager' of the bill. Thats right...Kent Conrad, opponent of the public option would become the floor manager for the healthcare bill. Not good.
So if Conrad goes to Ag, who will take over Budget? Here is the list by rank:
Patty Murray, WA
Ron Wyden, OR
Russ Feingold, WI
Robert Byrd, WV
Patty Murry would be awesome. Ron Wyden, despite the Wyden compromise, would also be awesome. Of course we know Feingold would be...well..Fine Gold!
In conclusion, I'd love to see the Senate settle its Chairmanship issues before we get down to final voting.