Serious wonkery: Al Franken, Mark Hatfield, and Senate Rules
Kari Chisholm
Now that Al Franken is (finally!) poised to become a U.S. Senator, it's time for him to also take his position on Senate committees and on the U.S. Senate seniority ladder.
The first item is easy. Franken will be assigned to the Judiciary Committee, taking a seat that Senator Ron Wyden has been holding for him since January.
(Of course, rather than simply keeping it warm, Wyden's been using the Judiciary seat - combined with his Intelligence seat - to press on issues related to national security and presidential authority.)
It seems likely that Senator Wyden's going to lose his shot at the upcoming confirmation hearings for Sonia Sotomayor. Ah well. But it'll be nice for the country to see Al Franken as a new Senator in that setting.
----
The second item is a bit more complicated. Had Franken been sworn in with the rest of his colleagues on January 6, he'd have ranked right above Senator Jeff Merkley in seniority. (Why? Because Minnesota is bigger than Oregon, and neither had previously served in Congress or the Cabinet, or been a Governor.)
It seems that there's some discussion about whether Franken will slide into that seniority spot - right above Merkley - as he was entitled to on election day, or whether he'll be #100.
On the one hand, the actual date of swearing-in is usually considered the primary factor. Even though everyone knew on election day that there would be open seats in Illinois and Delaware, Senators Roland Burris and Tim Kaufman rank behind the others. (Not that it's going to matter much for either of them, since their careers will be short.)
On the other hand, a ruling issued in 1980 by the Senate Rules Committee -- then led by Oregon's Mark Hatfield and Rhode Island's Claiborne Pell -- held that differences in swearing-in date wouldn't matter when Senators were elected on the same day. (It seems that some outgoing Senators were resigning post-election so their replacements could get a brief head start ahead of their new colleagues.)
And according to the Washington Post, back in January, that ruling may still apply. Of course, that was six months ago - we'll soon find out if Al Franken goes to the bottom of the class, or if he bumps Jeff Merkley down a notch.
Does this all matter? You bet. Years from now, the pecking order will determine silly things like who gets better office space and important things like who gets first pick of committee chairmanships.
Ironically, if Jeff Merkley gets bumped down a notch, it'll be due to a ruling made by Mark Hatfield, his mentor and predecessor.
Here's Wikipedia's chart of current seniority in the U.S. Senate. Wonk yourself out.
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Jul 1, '09
Kari, that's wonkerific!
Jul 1, '09
Wow. Okay, man, you've earned the right to take some time off and hang out with your kid. Well done. This is easily more thought than I've seen anybody put in to this particular issue.
6:38 p.m.
Jul 1, '09
I agree with your general reasoning but given that the vote was challenged and that the vote tally has changed since the swearing in day, I don't see how one can say that Franken was entitled to seniority starting when he would have been sworn in in what amounts to an alternate reality. That's not a slam, I'm just trying to get to the root of the criteria and it seems to me that he shouldn't be entitled to a backdated seniority.
7:05 p.m.
Jul 1, '09
Yeah, Kevin, we'll see. I suspect that if this would have been settled back in January just a few days late, there would be no question. But after six months...
8:33 p.m.
Jul 1, '09
Yeah, I would agree with that. But either way, I'm not normally into the overly wonky subjects but this post just sucked me in. Mostly I think because it's something that I'd never really known much about nor thought much about. In any case, I'm glad you posted it so I could indulge my heretofore unknown inner wonk. ;-)
Jul 2, '09
Thanks Kari...I love this kind of stuff.
As much as I would love to see Sen. Merkley building seniority, I have to say that in fairness and based on the rules that you laid out, Sen. Franken should get the nod.
The fact is that Al Franken was elected on the same day as all the others.
I don't think that bigger states should get the advantage but if that is the rule... Franken should not be punished because his race was close and his opponent dragged out the recount.
3:16 p.m.
Jul 2, '09
Too bad it levels by population and not by unemployment rate....
Jul 3, '09
So this is what you have against progressives. Wonkery isn't required with progressive gov. Rather than play good chess, and see a subtle difference in position 40 moves ahead, we'd rather fix a system that would allow such major decisions to rest on minutia.
Well played, though.
Jul 13, '09