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Wednesday, January 07, 2009
Udalls Claim Seniority Among Senate Frosh
By Kathleen Hunter
CQ Politics
In the Senate, seniority can lead to power, so the starting position for a new member can be a matter of some intense interest.
Nine new senators — seven Democrats and two Republicans — greeted one another, took pictures with family members and found their way to the Senate chamber Tuesday to be sworn in as members of the 111th Congress.
The Democrats are Mark Begich of Alaska, Kay Hagan of North Carolina, Jeff Merkley of Oregon, Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, Mark Udall of Colorado, Tom Udall of New Mexico and Mark Warner of Virginia. The two Republicans are Nebraska’s Mike Johanns and Idaho’s Jim Risch .
Democrats will not immediately seat anyone to fill open seats from Minnesota or Illinois because of legal disputes about who is entitled to occupy those seats.
Even though the freshmen will be at the bottom of the Senate’s seniority ladder, a pecking order among them has already been established through a complicated system that takes into consideration more than a dozen factors.
Because first cousins Mark and Tom Udall both had served in the House since 1999, they will be the most senior of the freshman senators under the formula, which also takes into account previous service as president or vice president, a Cabinet member or a governor, and the population the senator’s home state, in that order.
Mark Udall said he was pleased to learn he was the most senior of the freshmen, adding that he had been told he would be granted the committee assignments he had asked for — Armed Services and Energy and Natural Resources.
“I’m astounded,” Udall said. “Being at the end of the alphabet and having a big family, I never expect to be at the top of the list. So this is exciting.”
Udall said he was making do for now with a temporary office in the basement of the Dirksen Senate Office Building but was eager to get a permanent office.
“These don’t equal the digs I had in the House,” he said, adding that — unlike his cousin Tom — he never got stuck in a House office on the fifth floor of the Cannon House Office Building, where working conditions are notoriously cramped....(Click for remainder).
By Kathleen Hunter
CQ Politics
In the Senate, seniority can lead to power, so the starting position for a new member can be a matter of some intense interest.
Nine new senators — seven Democrats and two Republicans — greeted one another, took pictures with family members and found their way to the Senate chamber Tuesday to be sworn in as members of the 111th Congress.
The Democrats are Mark Begich of Alaska, Kay Hagan of North Carolina, Jeff Merkley of Oregon, Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, Mark Udall of Colorado, Tom Udall of New Mexico and Mark Warner of Virginia. The two Republicans are Nebraska’s Mike Johanns and Idaho’s Jim Risch .
Democrats will not immediately seat anyone to fill open seats from Minnesota or Illinois because of legal disputes about who is entitled to occupy those seats.
Even though the freshmen will be at the bottom of the Senate’s seniority ladder, a pecking order among them has already been established through a complicated system that takes into consideration more than a dozen factors.
Because first cousins Mark and Tom Udall both had served in the House since 1999, they will be the most senior of the freshman senators under the formula, which also takes into account previous service as president or vice president, a Cabinet member or a governor, and the population the senator’s home state, in that order.
Mark Udall said he was pleased to learn he was the most senior of the freshmen, adding that he had been told he would be granted the committee assignments he had asked for — Armed Services and Energy and Natural Resources.
“I’m astounded,” Udall said. “Being at the end of the alphabet and having a big family, I never expect to be at the top of the list. So this is exciting.”
Udall said he was making do for now with a temporary office in the basement of the Dirksen Senate Office Building but was eager to get a permanent office.
“These don’t equal the digs I had in the House,” he said, adding that — unlike his cousin Tom — he never got stuck in a House office on the fifth floor of the Cannon House Office Building, where working conditions are notoriously cramped....(Click for remainder).
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