Harkin says he will not yield his chair on the Labor/HHS Appropriations subcommittee to Specter

[Aloha Spirit]

I thought that was the chairmanship he was most likely to get, but now... the bargaining begins.
He and Harkin are kinda buddies, so I thought maybe they had something worked out.
Here's the story though:

http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20090428-723816.html

"Specter, R-Pa., who chaired the Senate Judiciary Committee before Republicans lost control of Congress in 2007, will retain his seniority when he migrates from the Republican Party to the Democratic Party. His nearly three decades in the Senate will catapult him above other Democrats on several committees. But although that means he now has the seniority to chair the Senate Appropriations subcommittee that oversees the departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, he apparently won't assume the subcommittee gavel.

Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, who currently chairs the panel, said Tuesday that he has no plan to relinquish control. And he says he has the backing of party leadership.

I talked to , and he assured me that nothing's changed and I will continue to maintain my chairmanship," Harkin said.
Earlier in the day, Reid said that Specter "knows that no one will be dumped off of a full committee or a subcommittee, unless it's done on some voluntary basis," but noted that Democratic senators would have an opportunity to choose a new chair for the Appropriations panel if they maintain their majority in 2011.
But Harkin said he later received assurances from Reid that Specter's party change "would not jeopardize my position whatsoever," even in a new Congress.
When asked about the issue Tuesday, Specter said "we haven't worked that out yet."

At today's press conference, Specter made it clear he expects to get a chair position due to his seniority, even before the 2010 election. The press conference was really interesting... lots of good questions. Specter mentioned that he outranks Harkin when asked about what subcommittee he might chair.

Here's the link to Specter's statement and press conference
http://www.c-spanarchives.org/library/index.php?main_page=product_video_info&tID=5&src=atom&atom=todays_events.xml&products_id=285563-1

Here's a link to an article Specter wrote for the Harvard Journal on Legislation on labor reform and card check:
http://www.law.harvard.edu/students/orgs/jol/vol45_2/311-334_Specter-Nguyen.pdf

Here's an article from Think Progress today on Specter's position on labor reform:
http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2009/04/28/specter-switch-labor/

"....So even if Specter is still opposed cloture for EFCA in its current form (and who knows what political constraints he may find himself free of now), he has admitted that the system for forming a union is broken. Furthermore, he may find it very difficult to run in union-heavy Pennsylvania as a Democrat without supporting some sort of labor reform. Does this mean that there is an EFCA compromise in the works?"

I think Specter wants to lead on labor reform, but now that Harkin has stated he won't cede the chair.... what will happen.

Oooh the drama.


edited to add more of the WSJ article since it's behind a subscription thingy.

[w4rma]

1. Good! Harkin is great on labor issues. Spector hates labor. (nt)

[msongs]

2. specter should start at the bottom and earn his way up in the democratic hierarchy nt

[Aloha Spirit]

3. wow, did you guys read my post that fast?

[Debi]

4. Why should he?

Harkin should stay put!

[pscot]

5. There are 7 Democratic senators

who out rank Spector; Byrd, Kennedy, Leahy, Inoue, Baucus, Levin and Dodd. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_Senators_in_the_111th_Congress_by_seniority

[LiberalFighter]

6. If they go by true seniority he would have day one seniority.

The Democratic and Republican Parties are like two different companies. If I worked at General Motors for 10 years and then took a job at Ford I would have day one seniority even though the same union represented both employees.