WASHINGTON – Senate Democrats gave Sen. Amy Klobuchar a promotion Tuesday as they boosted the Minnesota lawmaker to the No. 3 leadership position in the next Congress.
Klobuchar, who was first elected in 2006, will succeed retiring Sen. Debbie Stabenow of Michigan as chairman of the party’s Policy and Communications Committee and will be taking a lead on Senate Democratic priorities after the party lost its Senate majority in November’s elections.
Klobuchar currently holds the No. 4 position in Senate leadership, that of chairman of the Democratic steering committee.
Senate Democrats also voted unanimously behind closed doors to retain their two top leaders, Sens. Charles Schumer of New York and Richard Durbin of Illinois. Schumer has led Senate Democrats since 2017 while Durbin is the party’s longtime whip.
With the GOP poised to control the Senate and to keep a slim majority in the U.S. House, the role of Senate Democrats will be to use whatever legislative tools are at their disposal — especially the filibuster — to block what they consider onerous initiatives.
But the selection of Klobuchar, a Senate workhorse and consensus-oriented pragmatist, to the key post of shaping the party’s policy and messaging indicated Democrats also want to be able to find agreement with their Republican colleagues whenever possible.
“This is the time to find common ground when we can, and stand our ground where we must,” Klobuchar said after Democrats held their election.
In a statement, Schumer said Senate Democrats would look to work with Republicans but that his conference would “continue to fight for what’s best for America’s working class.”
“As I have long said, our preference is to secure bipartisan solutions wherever possible and look for ways to collaborate with our Republican colleagues to help working families,” he said. “However, our Republican colleagues should make no mistake about it, we will always stand up for our values.”
Klobuchar is also expected to receive another promotion when Senate Democrats rejigger committee assignments to adjust to their new role in the minority.
She is expected to be the top Democrat on the Senate Agriculture Committee and would be positioned to negotiate with Republicans on the next farm bill if efforts to approve the massive legislation fail, as expected, in the current lame duck session of Congress.
Klobuchar is also expected to stay as a senior member of the Senate Rules Committee and Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee.
The senator initially had competition for her new leadership job – Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J. But Schumer, to maintain peace in his ranks, created a new position that is ranked No. 4 in the Democratic Senate leadership. That position was chairman of a new Strategic Communications Committee, and Booker was elected to that job Tuesday.
Republicans will start the 119th Congress with 53 seats in the Senate, compared with 47 for Democrats and independents who caucus with them.
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