Specter’s Swap to Have No Effect on Committee Chairmanships in This Congress
So said the office of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) Tuesday evening. The possibility was raised by Sen. Arlen Specter (Pa.) himself, who told reporters this afternoon that he and Reid had worked out a deal that Specter would be seated on committees as if he’d spent his 29 years in the Senate as a Democrat.
“„In discussing that issue with Senator Reid, the fair approach which we both agreed to was to be where I would be had I been a Democrat coming into the Senate with my election in 1980. So you can take a look at the charts and figure out exactly where I’d be.
But Reid spokeswoman Regan LaChapelle emailed to clarify that “no Chairmen or Subcommittee Chairmen will lose their Chairmanships in the 111th Congress.”