A number of senators be part of the Appropriations, Judiciary, Finance, International Relations, and Commerce Committees, the place they may acquire new affect over coverage.
WASHINGTON—Because the 119th Congress takes workplace, the leaders of the Senate Republican Convention and Senate Democratic Caucus have unveiled their proposed committee assignments, which can closely affect the coverage agenda of the Senate for the subsequent two years.
Standing committees—that are everlasting committees—within the Senate are the primary our bodies to evaluation laws and take a number one function in getting ready it for votes on the Senate flooring. The chairmen of those committees wield important energy over this course of.
The committees additionally maintain oversight hearings and think about the president’s nominees to varied government department positions.
Opposition from a committee chairman usually prevents a invoice or nomination from ever receiving a vote. Therefore, senators wrangle to safe prestigious committee assignments that have an effect on key coverage areas, in order to accrue extra affect within the political course of.
Beneath is a abstract of the Senate’s key committees.
Appropriations Committee
The Appropriations Committee is broadly considered the Senate’s most vital standing physique, for it has jurisdiction over the spending of public cash. Annual payments to fund the federal authorities are at all times drafted by this committee, whose members have important affect over the method, together with within the allocation of “earmarks” to spend cash on pet initiatives in dwelling states. Given its status, committee spots are often allotted by seniority.
Within the new Congress, the chairwoman of the Appropriations Committee will probably be Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who was the rating member within the 118th Congress. The rating member, who leads the minority social gathering, will probably be Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), who equally was the chairwoman within the final Congress.
Akin to this management change, the composition of the committee stays largely unchanged from the final Congress. New Republican members embody Sens. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) and Mike Rounds (R-S.D.). There’s one new Democratic member—Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.), who’s up for reelection in 2026.
A number of senior senators have re-obtained spots on the committee, considered one of them being Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who retired as chief of the Senate Republican Convention, after 14 years, on the finish of the 118th Congress. Now not within the management, he’s anticipated to now play a extra lively function within the committee. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Ak.), one other senior senator who usually dissents from the Republican management, has additionally retained her membership.
Judiciary Committee
After the Appropriations Committee, the Judiciary Committee is taken into account one other plum project within the Senate. The physique has jurisdiction over all judicial nominations by the president to federal courts, making it a important discussion board to affect the composition of the Supreme Court docket of the US and broader federal judiciary. It additionally oversees all nominations of the Division of Justice, together with regulation enforcement businesses just like the FBI, and has jurisdiction over payments regarding immigration, web privateness, prison regulation, anti-trust issues, and amendments to the U.S. Structure.
The Chairman of the Judiciary Committee will probably be senior Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), who beforehand served as chairman from 2015 to 2019. The rating member will probably be Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Sick.), who served as chairman within the 117th and 118th Congresses.
New members embody Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), who served as Lawyer Common of Missouri earlier than becoming a member of the Senate in 2023, in addition to Sens. Katie Britt (R-Ala.) and Mike Crapo (R-Idaho). Two members will depart the committee—Ossoff and Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.). Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) will retain his membership within the committee after having changed Sen. Laphonza Butler (D-Calif.) on Dec. 8.
Finance Committee
The Senate Finance Committee has jurisdiction over issues regarding taxation, which will probably be an preliminary focus of President-elect Donald Trump’s administration as soon as it takes workplace on Jan. 20. A number of main provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017 are expiring this yr, and a number of other senators in each events wish to enact a proposed enlargement of the Little one Tax Credit score (CTC) pursuant to a bipartisan deal in 2024.
Crapo will chair the committee, with Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), the 118th Congress’s committee chairman, because the rating member. A notable change in composition is the departure of Rounds, who was the rating member within the final Congress and led opposition to the CTC invoice, and who has been changed on the committee by Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kansas).
Amongst Democrats, a number of new members will be part of the Finance Committee after 5 earlier members both retired or misplaced reelection to the Senate. The brand new members are Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Ben Ray Lujan (D-N.M.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), and Peter Welch (D-Vt.).
International Relations Committee
The Senate International Relations Committee, alongside the Armed Providers and Intelligence Committee, is among the three main nationwide security-related standing committees of the Senate. It has jurisdiction over the US’s international coverage and international assist, notably assist to Ukraine—a topic of huge controversy within the Republican Social gathering amid Russia’s warfare in opposition to that nation. Moreover, it considers all treaties introduced by the president to the Senate for ratification, which is critical to present them the pressure of regulation.
Membership of the international relations committee provides Senators an opportunity to develop international coverage experience and worldwide relationships with international leaders, because of the frequency of journey to international nations as a part of congressional delegations. Chairmen of the committee have usually later held high-ranking governmental positions, equivalent to President Joe Biden (chair from 2001 to 2003 and 2007 to 2009) and former Secretary of State John Kerry (chair from 2009 to 2013).
Within the 119th Congress, the chairman of the International Relations Committee will probably be Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho), who has served as rating member within the earlier two Congresses. The rating member will probably be Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), who will lead the Democrats on the committee following the momentary management of now-retired Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.). Cardin took the job after the committee’s chairman, former Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), was indicted and, later, convicted on federal corruption expenses after utilizing his place to learn the federal government of Egypt in trade for bribes.
New arrivals on the committee are Sens. Dave McCormick (R-Pa.), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Mike Lee and John Curtis (R-Utah), John Cornyn (R-Texas), and Rick Scott (R-Fla.). Leaving the committee are Sens. Todd Younger (R-Ind.) and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who will probably be nominated by Trump as his Secretary of State. On the Democratic facet, a brand new member will probably be Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), who gained reelection in a slender contest in 2024.
Commerce Committee
The Commerce Committee is the Senate’s second-largest standing committee (behind solely the Appropriations Committee), with 28 members. The committee oversees the Senate’s train of Congress’s constitutional energy to “regulate commerce” between states and with international nations. Because of this, its jurisdiction spans a big selection of portfolios—together with highways, railroads, aviation, shopper merchandise, science, and outer area—with important affect over the U.S. financial system.
The chairman of the Commerce Committee will probably be Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), a well known nationwide political determine who ran for president in 2016, with this being the primary committee chairmanship of his profession. He takes over after serving as rating member within the 118th Congress and can trade that place with Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.).
Republican additions to the committee will probably be newly elected Sens. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio), Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.), and Curtis. Leaving the committee is the vice president-elect, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), who will resign his Senate seat previous to his inauguration because the Vice President of the US on Jan. 20, 2025. Throughout his tenure on the committee, Vance continuously raised the problem of railroad security after a practice derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, in 2023, which launched many poisonous chemical substances into the encompassing space.
On the Democratic facet, two freshmen senators—Kim and Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.)—will be part of the committee, as will Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.).