NATIONAL BRIEFING / WASHINGTON, D.C.
The Senate dealt a blow to Sen. Arlen Specter’s hold on seniority in several key committees, a week after the Pennsylvanian’s party switch placed Democrats on the verge of a 60-seat majority.
In a unanimous voice vote, the Senate approved a resolution adding Specter to the Democratic side of the dais on the five committees on which he serves, including Judiciary and Appropriations. But Democrats placed Specter in one of the two most junior slots on each of the five committees for the remainder of this Congress, which runs through December 2010.
Democrats suggested that they would consider revisiting Specter’s seniority claim at the committee level after the midterm elections next year. Without any assurance of seniority, Specter, 79, loses a major weapon in his campaign to win reelection in 2010: the ability to claim that his nearly 30 years in the Senate places him in key positions to benefit his constituents.
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