Senior Senate Democrats are objecting to the deal Majority Leader Harry Reid made with Sen. Arlen Specter, saying they will vote against letting the former Republican shoot to the top of powerful committees after he switches parties.
Several Democrats are furious with Sen. Reid (D-Nev.) for agreeing to let Specter (Pa.) keep his seniority, accrued over more than 28 years as a GOP senator. That agreement would allow Specter to leap past senior Democrats on powerful panels — including the Appropriations and Judiciary committees.
“I won’t be happy if I don’t get to chair something because of Arlen Specter,” said Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), who sits on the Appropriations Committee with Specter and is fifth in seniority among Democrats, behind Chairman Daniel Inouye (Hawaii) and Sens. Robert Byrd (W.Va.), Patrick Leahy (Vt.) and Tom Harkin (Iowa). “I’m happy with the Democratic order, but I don’t want to be displaced because of Arlen Specter,” she said.
Specter’s first full day in Washington after turning the Capitol upside down with his decision to switch parties suggested a lonely future awaits in the upper chamber.
Posted by: DefiantOne | April 30, 2009
Democratic Senators Feuding About Specter; Furious With Reid
Posted in DNC, Democrats, News, PUMA, Politics, Republicans | Tags: arlen specter, arlen specter senate seniority, milkuski, senate seniority, seniority, specter seniority, spector seniority
Democratic Senators Feuding About Specter; Furious With Reid…
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By: PunditKix on April 30, 2009
at 5:28 pm
Let the lefties beat each other up over the privilege Specter received. Nice to see ‘em hitting each other for a change.
Wait ’til (if) Specter pokes them in the eye with one of his votes.. They’ll be even more furious.
He jumped parties just to keep his job – not his principles.
for a bit of a laugh on the real reasons he jumped, hit:
http://firstconservative.com/blog/top-ten/specter-bails-out-real-reasons-he-defected
By: MAS1916 on April 30, 2009
at 12:59 pm