Cornyn expects to leave Armed Services Committee

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), who is ascending to the No. 2 Republican in the Senate next year, said Thursday he will likely leave the Senate Armed Services Committee.

“It’s more likely than not that my top two committees will be Finance and Judiciary, and I likely won’t be able to hold onto Armed Services,” Cornyn told reporters.

The reason Cornyn would have to leave Armed Services is that all three of those committees are “A” committees in the Senate, and senators are only allowed to be on two of them.

Cornyn said that his potential departure from Armed Services, which he noted was not yet set in stone, would not stop him from working on defense and military issues as a member of the GOP leadership.

“I’m going to continue to stay engaged in those issues, particularly given my role in the leadership as a whip,” he said. “I intend to use that as a platform to stay very much involved in national security issues.”

— Ben Geman contributed to this report.

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