With the 119th Congress underway, Senate leaders recently announced their committee rosters for this Congress. The Senate Committees on Appropriations and Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) will have several new faces.
Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) will take over as chair of the Appropriations Committee. The long-time Senator served as the ranking member in the previous Congress. In addition to Appropriations, she serves on HELP and has made education a priority during her entire Senate career.
Joining the committee for Senate Republicans are Sens. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) and Mike Rounds (R-SD). Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) is currently still on the committee for this Congress; however, he will leave Congress when he gets confirmed as Secretary of State. That will open another spot on the committee for an additional Republican.
Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) will move to the role of ranking member having served as chair this last Congress. Similarly to Sen. Collins, she sits on HELP and was the top Democrat on that committee for several Congresses. Democrats joining the committee are Sens. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY). They replace Sens. Joe Manchin (I-WV), Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) and Jon Tester (D-MT). Sens. Manchin and Sinema both retired from Congress and Sen. Tester did not win re-election.
Moving to HELP, Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) will take over as the new chair of the committee. For the 118th Congress, he served as the ranking member. He came to the Senate in 2015 and previously served in the House of Representatives from 2009-2015. His priorities on education and workforce include introducing the College Transparency Act as well as negotiating a bipartisan bill to reauthorize the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA). ACTE endorsed the College Transparency Act in the 118th Congress. As chair, it will be his responsibility to set the direction of the committee.
On the Republican side of the aisle, four new members will join the committee for the 119th Congress. They are Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Jim Banks (R-IN) and Josh Hawley (R-MO). Of these new members, Sen. Banks is the only new member of the Senate. He was elected to the House in 2016 and served his entire tenure on the House Education and the Workforce Committee.
Two members who were on HELP in the previous Congress will not return. Sens. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) and Ted Budd (R-NC) have rolled off the committee to pursue other assignments.
On the Democratic side, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) will remain as the top Democrat on the committee, but he will shift to serve as the ranking member for this Congress.
The Democrats will also welcome three new members to the committee: Sens. Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE) and Andy Kim (D-NJ). All three are freshmen Senators in the 119th Congress. Sens. Blunt Rochester and Kim previously served in the House while Sen. Alsobrooks served as the Executive for Prince George’s County in Maryland.
In the coming weeks, ACTE will be reaching out to all the new members and advocating for CTE, and our longtime priorities. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to ACTE’s Government Relations Manager, Jimmy Koch ([email protected]).
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