Congress Reconvenes

The U.S. Congress convened last week. In the House, members adopt changes to eliminate term limits for committee chairs and changes to the pay-as-you-go rules to eliminate required offsets under certain provisions, including those necessary to respond to "a natural disaster or a period of sustained low economic growth." The subcommittee chairs and assignments have been announced for the Energy and Commerce Committee (see here ). In addition to Henry Waxman (California) assuming the chair of the committee, many environmentalists were glad to see Edward Markey of Massachusetts become chair of the newly created Energy and Environment Subcommittee, formed from combining the Environment and Hazardous Materials Subcommittee and the Energy and Air Quality Subcommittee.

In the Senate, legal challenges surrounding the appointment of Democrats Roland Burris (Illinois) have largely been resolved but those surrounding Al Franken's (Minnesota) election could keep that seat vacant for a few weeks. Three other seats (Joseph Biden of Delaware, Hillary Clinton of New York, and Ken Salazar of Colorado) will soon be resigning to join the administration. Two Democrats have been added to the Environment and Public Works Committee, which is still chaired by Barbara Boxer: Tom Udall of New Mexico and Jeff Merkley of Oregon, increasing Democrats margins over Republicans in the committee.