Senate Democrats on Thursday announced their rosters for the Armed Services Committee with newly-elected Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) joining the panel.
Slotkin, a former U.S. representative and Pentagon official, is taking the Armed Services spot held last Congress by Sen. Joe Manchin (I-W.Va.), who did not run for reelection. The panel writes the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that sets spending limits for programs including nuclear weapons. The most recent NDAA, passed before Christmas, set the spending limit for the National Nuclear Security Administration at $25 million.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) detailed the full slate of committee rosters on Thursday, with Republicans set to confirm their own picks in the coming days.
Before Christmas, GOP leader Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) put out a press release for Republican committee assignments that “have been ratified by the Senate Republican Conference and are expected to be ratified by the full Senate early next Congress.” For the new majority, Sens Jim Banks (R-Ind.) and Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.) are projected to join the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Meanwhile, in the opposing chamber, Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.) was re-elected by a razor-thin margin to be the Speaker of the House for the 119th Congress on Friday. Johnson only had room for one Republican deflection — taken up by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) — and barely nabbed the win after two last-minute vote changes.
A version of this story first appeared in Exchange Monitor affiliate publication Defense Daily.
