Eric Schmitt is already ruffling feathers, two days into his first work week of the brand new Senate.
The primary-term Missouri senator is pushing for a slot on the coveted Senate Judiciary Committee as Republicans finalize their choices on panel rosters. He’s even going as far as to make calls to his new colleagues, Sens. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), to see in the event that they’ll surrender their spots to permit him on the panel, an uncommon transfer for a Senate newcomer, per two sources briefed on the matter.
The recipients haven't welcomed his entreaties.
“That is one thing the Missouri senators have to work out,” Blackburn mentioned in an interview.
“I’m the one Republican lady on the Senate Judiciary Committee and I don’t intend to come back off the committee,” she added.
Blackburn joined the panel after the GOP drew warmth for having no feminine members in the course of the affirmation of Justice Brett Kavanaugh. As for Schmitt, Blackburn mentioned: “He wants to grasp that these are choices for the chief, for the committee on committees,” referring to a panel that handles committee apportionment and is run by Sens. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) and Tim Scott (R-S.C.).
Senate Republicans will vote Wednesday on a waiver that will permit Schmitt to be on the Judiciary Committee, a vital step since Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley already serves on the panel. However primarily based on the present committee make-up, approving a waiver would threaten Tillis or Blackburn’s seat on the desk on Judiciary and have a cascading impact, scrambling committee rosters throughout the board.
The subject got here up on the Senate GOP lunch, the place Tillis and Blackburn made clear that they've no real interest in leaving the panel. Crapo inspired senators to vote towards the waiver, in keeping with an attendee and a senior GOP aide. Tillis declined to touch upon his dialog with Schmitt.
“Senator Schmitt and his staff are persevering with to have productive conversations as committee assignments are being labored out, and he'll proceed to struggle for Missourians within the committees that he’s chosen to serve on,” mentioned William O’Grady, Schmitt’s press secretary.
Three weeks into the brand new Congress, the Senate has but to formally manage its committees after Democrats elevated their majority to 51-49 within the November election.
Underneath the GOP convention guidelines, a senator must request a waiver if a senator from his or her house state already sits on the panel, although the convention has beforehand voted to waive that rule on sure events. The Senate Judiciary Committee has had members from the identical state serve on the panel earlier than, together with Texas GOP Sens. Ted Cruz and John Cornyn and former Utah GOP Sen. Orrin Hatch and Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah).
The Senate Judiciary Committee is house to a number of the most contentious fights in Congress, overseeing Supreme Court docket confirmations and holding jurisdiction over powerful political points like immigration and abortion. It’s a very coveted panel for future presidential hopefuls, as its work attracts a media highlight.
Schmitt argues he must be on the panel as a lawyer and former lawyer common. Tillis and Blackburn will not be attorneys, however the panel has an extended historical past of elevating members outdoors the authorized career. Former chairs Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) don't have legislation levels.
“As a former lawyer common, it’s proper in his wheelhouse,” Cornyn, a member of the Judiciary Committee, mentioned of Schmitt. “Sadly as a result of we’re within the minority and we’re shedding the seat it creates an issue.”
Alexander Burns contributed to this report.