*EPF109 01/06/2003
New Lineup in 108th Congress as Republicans Regain Control of Senate
(Republican victories, retirements to affect key committees in Senate) (1480)

By Stephen La Rocque
Washington File Staff Writer

(Part One: Overview of the Election Results and Changes in the Senate)

Washington -- When the new Congress opens January 7, Republicans will be in control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Thanks to their success in the November 2002 elections, the 108th Congress will begin with Republicans having increased their margin of control in the House of Representatives from a 221-212 advantage over Democrats, with two Independents in the 107th Congress, to a 229-205 margin in the new Congress, with one Independent who caucuses with the Democrats.

In the Senate, Republicans regained control of that body, and now hold a 51-48 margin over the Democrats, with one Independent who caucuses with the Democrats, in contrast to their minority status in the 107th Congress when Republicans held 49 seats, and the Democrats, with 50 members, held the majority with the one Independent, 51 to 49.

Beyond the numbers, both parties have new faces in Congress who will change the balance and outlook of both legislative bodies and the various committees on which they serve. While committee assignments may take a week or so to be made for the new Congress, there are already changes in the overall lineups of the two parties.

Both parties will see changes in their leadership in the new Congress.

In the Senate, Senator Trent Lott (Republican of Mississippi) stepped down as Senate Majority Leader following a controversy over comments he made at the retirement party of Senator Strom Thurmond (Republican of South Carolina). Replacing Lott as Senate Majority Leader is Senator William Frist (Republican of Tennessee). The Senate Majority Leader directs the legislative agenda of the Senate.

Lott has told reporters that he will become chairman of the Senate Rules and Administration Committee. Unlike the more powerful House Rules Committee, which details how a bill will be scheduled and sets the rules for how it will be taken up on the House floor, the Senate Rules Committee deals with more mundane matters such as who will get office space and where.

Lott said he will also sit on the Senate Select Intelligence Committee.

In the last Congress, Senator Tom Daschle (Democrat of South Dakota) was the Senate Majority Leader. He will be the Senate Minority Leader in the new Congress, and is now considering whether to become a candidate for the Democratic Party's 2004 Presidential nomination.

In the 107th Congress, Democrats, as the Majority party, controlled all Senate committees and subcommittees, and determined the number of seats each party would have on the committees. With the Republicans now in charge by the same margin as the Democrats had previously, the number of seats on committees for Republicans will probably match that of the Democrats in the last Congress or, in a few cases, be slightly increased.

The new makeup of three Senate committees which play a critical role in U.S. foreign policy -- the Senate Armed Services Committee, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence -- show how the 2002 elections have changed the dynamics of the Senate.

In the last Congress, Democrats held a 13-12 advantage in the Senate Armed Services Committee. Senator Carl Levin (Democrat of Michigan) was the committee chairman, and Senator John Warner (Republican of Virginia) was the ranking minority member.

In the new Congress, those positions are likely to be reversed with Warner retaking the chairmanship of the committee while the number of Republicans and Democrats on the committee are switched, with the Republicans holding the advantage.

Two Democrats on the committee lost their re-election bids -- Senator Max Cleland (Democrat of Georgia) and Senator Jean Carnahan (Democrat of Missouri). Senator Joseph Lieberman (Democrat of Connecticut) was chairman of the subcommittee on Air/Land, where both Cleland and Carnahan served. Lieberman is another possible Democratic candidate for President in 2004.

Two Republicans on the committee also lost their re-election bids -- Senator Robert Smith (Republican of New Hampshire), who was defeated in the Republican primary by Senator-elect John Sununu, and Senator Tim Hutchinson (Republican of Arkansas), who lost to Democratic challenger, Senator-elect Mark Pryor.

Centenarian Senator Strom Thurmond (Republican of South Carolina), the second ranking Republican on the committee, ended his long legislative career at the end of the 107th Congress. Representative Lindsey Graham (Republican of South Carolina) won that open seat for the Republican Party. Graham was one of the House managers during the Clinton impeachment trial in the Senate.

The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence saw only one change in membership: Senator Fred Thompson (Republican of Tennessee) retired. Incoming Senator Lamar Alexander (Republican of Tennessee) won Thompson's seat.

However, as with the Senate Armed Services Committee, at least one member of the Intelligence Committee -- Senator John Edwards (Democrat of North Carolina) -- is seeking the 2004 Democratic nomination for President, while Senator Bob Graham, the select committee's chairman in the 107th Congress is also said to be considering a run for the Democratic nomination in 2004.

If Republicans follow their current seniority listings for the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Senator Richard Shelby (Republican of Alabama) will be the committee chairman in the 108th Congress. In the 107th Congress, Democrats held nine seats on the select committee, against eight for the Republicans. In the new Congress, that arrangement is likely to be reversed.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee will also see changes, as the ten-to-nine Democratic advantage in the last Congress is replaced in the 108th Congress.

Besides losing the chairmanship of the committee, Democrats also suffered the loss of Senator Paul Wellstone (Democrat of Minnesota), who died in an airplane crash shortly before the November elections. His last-minute replacement, former Vice President Walter Mondale, lost to Republican challenger Norman Coleman.

Senator Robert Torricelli (Democrat of New Jersey) dropped out of his Senate race under allegations of improprieties. His replacement, former Senator Frank Lautenberg, went on to defeat his Republican rival in the general election and hold the seat for the Democrats.

Republicans saw ranking minority member Senator Jesse Helms (Republican of North Carolina) retire. Former cabinet secretary and former head of the American Red Cross, Elizabeth Dole defeated her Democratic opponent to keep the seat for the Republicans.

Senator Richard Lugar (Republican of Indiana) is slated to become the chairman of the committee in the new Congress.

Were current seniority listings followed, Senator Frist would become the chairman of the subcommittee on Africa; Senator Charles Hagel (Republican of Nebraska) would take the helm of the subcommittee on East Asian and Pacific Affairs; Senator Gordon Smith (Republican of Oregon) would head up the subcommittee on European Affairs; Senator George Allen (Republican of Virginia) would chair the subcommittee on International Economic Policy, Export and Trade Promotions; Senator Michael Enzi (Republican of Wyoming) would take the chairmanship of the subcommittee on International Operations and Terrorism; Senator Sam Brownback (Republican of Kansas) would head the subcommittee on Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs; and Senator Lincoln Chafee (Republican of Rhode Island) would chair the subcommittee on Western Hemisphere, Peace Corps, and Narcotics Affairs.

Senator John Kerry (Democrat of Massachusetts), the fourth ranking Democrat on the committee is another possible candidate for the Democratic nomination for President in the 2004 elections.

Although the last Congress saw senior Republican lawmakers leave the Senate, including Senator Phil Gramm (Republican of Texas), the Republicans were able to hold most of those seats. A Republican, for example, will replace Gramm, while only in Arkansas did a Republican senator seeking re-election in the general election go down to defeat.

Republicans can also look forward to counting several incoming Senators who defeated incumbent Democratic rivals, including one-time Congressman James Talent in Missouri, Representative Saxby Chambliss of Georgia, the chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence subcommittee on Terrorism and Homeland Security, and Senator-elect Norman Coleman of Minnesota, as well as Republican colleagues who managed to hold on to the seats of outgoing Republicans.

Democrats, in contrast, will try to gauge the effect of having so many possible presidential candidates from the Senate. It could result in sharper partisanship as potential candidates vie for advantage by staking out positions that challenge administration policy. It could also result in more frequent absences from the Senate by those senators as they seek to bring their campaigns to various parts of the country, allowing Senate Republicans to take advantage of those absences to advance their legislative agenda.

Another consideration for both Democrats and Republicans in the Senate is that, in 2004, 34 senators will be up for re-election -- including 19 Democrats and 15 Republicans. Among those facing the voters in 2004 are potential Democratic Presidential candidates Senators Daschle, Edwards and Graham.

(Part Two: Changes in the House of Representatives and House Committees)

(The Washington File is a product of the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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