Future uncertain for Utah senators

WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats elected Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada to be their majority leader on Tuesday, a further reminder to Utah's senators that Republicans are no longer in power.

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, are adjusting to the new makeup of the U.S. Senate. The near-term effects are not certain, but the power switch definitely will change plans for each senator and committee chairmanship down the line.

In 2009, Hatch was supposed to take over the Senate Finance Committee while Bennett was on track to be chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, had Republicans maintained the majority in 2006 and 2008. Bennett was re-elected in 2004, so his next race would not be until the 2010 election.

But now that the Democrats have taken over, it will put off their chairmanships, even if the Republicans take back the Senate in 2008.

Bennett explained that the Republicans allow their committee chairmen to have six-year terms in that role. Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., who now chairs the Senate Banking Committee, has only been its chairman for four years. If the Republicans gain control of the Senate after the 2008 election, Shelby would have the option of serving two more years as chairman.

The same goes for the Senate Finance Committee. Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, has been chairman since 2003. Hatch would have taken over in 2009, if the Republicans took the majority, but Grassley still would have the option to take over again because of the Democrats' intervention of sorts.

Hatch, who will enter his sixth Senate term in January, said he has been in a Republican minority before.

"Nothing happens on that committee without me, anyway," Hatch said of the Senate Finance Committee.

Hatch said it is actually a good thing at times for the powers to switch among the parties. He is not sure if he will stay on all the committees he has now. Decisions on committee assignments may not be made until December at the earliest.

Bennett was supposed to be one of the top advisers to the new Senate majority leader after the election, if Republicans kept control. He has been working with Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., for years to ensure he would take over after Sen. Bill Frist, R-Tenn., left the Senate.

Bennett said last week he was preparing for life in the minority, even before the final count in Virginia was done, although he was hopeful that seat would not have gone to Democratic candidate Jim Webb.

Bennett said that in a sense, being in the minority is easier than being in the majority because the minority only needs 41 votes and the majority needs 60 to break a filibuster.

Reid released the list of anticipated committee assignments for the Democrats on Tuesday, although they are subject to negotiations with the Republican leadership. The new Republican leaders are scheduled to be elected today.

The Republican leaders will eventually make the committee assignments for their party but first need to negotiate the number of seats on each committee.

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E-mail: suzanne@desnews.com