Big news: With Baucus retirement, Wyden poised for Finance chair

Kari Chisholm

It's not 100% confirmed yet, but Washington is abuzz with media reports that Senator Max Baucus (D-MT) is planning to retire - rather than run for re-election in 2014.

There are lots of implications of that, but the big one for Oregonians is what it means for Senator Ron Wyden.

Currently, Senator Wyden is #3 on the seniority list for the Senate Finance Committee, behind Chairman Baucus and Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV). Rockefeller has also announced his retirement in 2014, so that puts Wyden in the pole position for the chairmanship.

So far, Wyden is refusing comment, according to Roll Call:

“I just heard these press reports, and I’m not going to comment on them in any way. All I’ve heard are press reports. I am not going to comment in any way this morning.”

I have no inside information, but it's hard to imagine that Senator Wyden would pass up the big chair on Senate Finance. He's spent years pondering how to use the tax code as a lever for public policy, most notably during the health reform debate.

What kind of Finance chair would Wyden be? The WaPo's Ezra Klein weighs in:

Ron Wyden is wonkish, optimistic, idiosyncratic — and about to be very powerful

... If Baucus annoyed Democrats for being too cautious, Wyden will annoy them by being too ambitious — and too ceaselessly interested in brokering big, bipartisan deals.

Personally, I'll take ambitious over cautious every single time. And while Senator Wyden does like the big, bipartisan deal, he's also shown a willingness to take big, bold stands all by himself when it's warranted.

Of course, this assumes that the Democrats maintain control of the Senate. Already, eight Senators have announced retirements - and six are Democrats.

By Kari Chisholm April 23, 2013