Senate Democrats complete committee assignments

Senate Democrats finalized committee assignments on Thursday, including Appropriations and Budget, two panels expected to play a major role in spending decisions in the 112th Congress, according to documents obtained by The Hill.  

Sen. Kay Hagan (N.C.) joined the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, Sen. Ben Cardin (Md.) was added to Senate Finance, freshman Sen. Chris Coons (Del.) got a spot on the Senate Budget Committee and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) was added to the Joint Economic Committee. 

Senate Appropriations is as follows: Daniel Inouye (Hawaii) - Chairman; Patrick Leahy (Vt.), Tom Harkin (Iowa), Barbara Mikulski (Md.), Herb Kohl (Wis.), Patty Murray (Wash.), Dianne Feinstein (Calif.), Dick Durbin (Ill.), Tim Johnson (S.D.), Mary Landrieu (La.), Jack Reed (R.I.), Frank Lautenberg (N.J.), Ben Nelson (Neb.), Mark Pryor (Ark.), Jon Tester (Mont.), Sherrod Brown (Ohio). 

Senate Banking — Chairman: Johnson (S.D.); Reed, Charles Schumer (N.Y.), Robert Menendez (N.J.), Daniel Akaka, Brown, Tester, Kohl, Mark Warner (Va.), Jeff Merkley (Ore.), Michael Bennet (Colo.), Hagan (N.C.). 

Senate Finance — Chairman: Max Baucus (Mont.); Jay Rockefeller (W.Va.), Kent Conrad (N.D.), Jeff Bingaman (N.M.), John Kerry (Mass.), Ron Wyden (Ore.), Schumer, Debbie Stabenow (Mich.), Maria Cantwell (Wash.), Bill Nelson (Fla.), Menendez, Tom Carper (Del.), Cardin (Md.). 

Senate Budget — Chairman: Kent Conrad; Murray, Wyden, Bill Nelson, Stabenow, Cardin, Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Sheldon Whitehouse (R.I.), Warner, Merkley, Mark Begich (Alaska), Chris Coons (Del.).  

Joint Economic Committee — Bingaman, Bob Casey (Pa.), Amy Klobuchar (Minn.), Jim Webb (Va.), Warner, Sanders.

Small Business — Chairman: Mary Landrieu; Carl Levin (Mich.), Harkin, Kerry, Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), Cantwell, Pryor, Cardin, Jeanne Shaheen (N.H.), Hagan.