The results of Tuesday's election are increasing the balance of power on the Democratic side of the aisle in both the House and Senate.
A number of key committees will see changes as Republicans lose seats in the next Congress. On the House Financial Services Committee, the Democratic leadership is expected to remain in place, with Chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass., and the chairs of the various subcommittees having won reelection, according to an analysis by BNA's Daily Tax Report.
But at least three prominent Republicans will be gone. Chris Shays, R-Conn., and Tom Feeney, R-Fla., were both defeated at the polls. Deborah Pryce, R-Ohio, ranking member of the Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance, and Government Sponsored Enterprise, is retiring.
Also leaving the committee will be Steven Pearce, R-N.M., who lost a bid for the Senate, and two Democrats: Tim Mahoney, D-Fla., and Don Cazayoux, D-La., who also lost at the polls. The committee is expected to focus on the Troubled Asset Relief Program and the bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, along with other issues dealing with the economic crisis.
There has also been talk of the House and Senate creating a joint financial committee to work on a rewrite of financial regulations, according to BNA. In the Senate Finance Committee, Democrats are gaining one seat. John Sununu, R-N.H., lost his reelection bid and will be gone. Among those who may replace him are Tom Carper, D-Del.; Benjamin Cardin, D-Md.; and Evan Bayh, D-Ind.
John Kerry, D-Mass., chairman of the Social Security, Pensions, and Family Policy Subcommittee, may also leave the committee if he becomes chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, replacing Vice President-elect Joe Biden, D-Del. However, he may be able to receive a waiver to stay on the Finance Committee.
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., is expected to again become chairman of the Joint Committee on Taxation. He had temporarily ceded the position to Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont. All 22 of the 24 Democratic committee members on Ways and Means who were up for reelection won their races, but there will still be some changes. The late Stephanie Tubbs Jones, D-Ohio, will need to be replaced on the committee, as will Social Security Subcommittee Chairman Michael McNulty, D-N.Y., who is retiring.
Two Republican members on Way and Means were defeated on Tuesday: Select Revenue Measures Subcommittee ranking member Phil English, R-Pa., and Jon Porter, R-Nev. Six other Republican committee members are retiring, including ranking member Jim McCrery, R-La., and Jim Ramstad, R-Minn. Ramstad helped the American Institute of CPAs pass a measure that ultimately went into the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act equalizing the disclosure standards for tax preparers and clients.
