BREAKING NEWS: Additional names have just been added to the “super committee.” House Speaker John Boehner has chosen Rep. Jeb Hensarling of Texas, Rep. Dave Camp of Michigan, and Rep. Fred Upton, also of Michigan. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has chosen Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona, Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, and Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio. The GOP slate is now complete. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi has until next Tuesday to add 3 Democratic names to complete the panel.
The recent debt ceiling debate promised to resolve unfinished issues with a special bipartisan committee, to be made up of 6 Democrats and 6 Republicans. Now that committee seems to be taking shape.
Last night, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid chose Sen. Patty Murray of Washington to serve as co-chair of the new congressional committee. Reid also selected Sen. Max Baucus of Montana and Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts.
But a war of words has already broken out, with Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus blasting the choice of Murray, calling her selection “absolute proof that Democrats are not serious about deficit reduction.”
“As chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Murray is the Senate Democrats’ fundraiser-in-chief. The Select Committee is no place for someone whose top priority is fundraising and politics,” Priebus said in a statement.
But Sen. Reid stuck firmly behind his appointments, choosing to infuse experience into the process. “I have appointed three senators who each possess an expertise in budget matters, a commitment to a balanced approach and a track record of forging bipartisan consensus,” Reid said. In a joint statement, Murray, Baucus and Kerry each called for the committee to set aside the “red hot partisanship and brinkmanship” that have characterized the last few months of debt talks and to look for serious-minded ways to reduce the deficit.
Congressional leaders have until Aug. 16 to name the committee’s remaining 3 Democrats and 6 Republicans.
Ok Repubs drew first blood on this one. Heres the one time they could have skipped politics but they already criticize the first person named. If all the names are gonna get picked apart like this the process is already in trouble.