Legal Commentary

Musical (Senate) Chairs

By TChris

Democratic senators will be playing musical committee chairs as they prepare to begin the next legislative term. The venerable Robert Byrd, 91 and in less than perfect health, announced today that he's stepping down as chair of the Appropriations Committee. Next in line for that position is the venerable Daniel Inouye, 84. Inouye recently showed that he is no judge of character by testifying to Ted Stevens' good character during Stevens' trial, and by later predicting that Stevens' conviction will be overturned on appeal and that Stevens will win reelection. Let's hope Inouye is a better judge of government spending than he is of character.

Inouye will give up his Commerce Committee chair, which will go to John Rockefeller IV unless Rockefeller continues to chair Intelligence, when it would instead go to John Kerry unless Kerry takes Joe Biden's place as chair of the Foreign Relations Committee. Harry Ried would like to stick Joe Lieberman with the Small Business Committee chair that Kerry now holds, but Lieberman, the current chair of Homeland Security and Government Affairs, apparently thinks he still has enough clout to reject that offer.

Full post as published by TalkLeft on November 08, 2008 (boomark / email).