New appropriations leaders aim to finish fiscal 2008 bills on time

New House Appropriations Chairman David Obey, D-Wis., and Senate Appropriations Chairman Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., announced Thursday a revamped subcommittee structure and pledged to try to complete the fiscal 2008 appropriations bills individually and on time for the first time since they each chaired the panels in 1994.

Byrd and Obey agreed on a lineup of 12 subcommittees that match up cleanly in both chambers, avoiding the jurisdictional mismatches caused by the 2005 GOP restructuring.

"The cooperation that got us this proposal today will be even more important in the months ahead," Obey said in a statement.

The chairmen agreed to create a Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee, pulling jurisdiction over the Treasury Department, Postal Service, the General Services Administration, and other agencies from the former Transportation-Treasury Subcommittee, as well as responsibility for the Judiciary and Washington, D.C. spending.

It also takes jurisdiction over the Small Business Administration and regulatory agencies responsible for oversight of the financial services and other industries, such as the FCC, SEC and FTC, from what was the Science-State-Justice panel in the House and Commerce-Justice-Science panel in the Senate.

Rep. Jose Serrano, D-N.Y., announced he will chair the new subcommittee. "For a man of humble beginnings, who represents one of the most underprivileged communities in the nation, overseeing such an important portion of our government's activities is quite an honor," said Serrano, who represents the South Bronx.

Senate Majority Whip Richard Durbin, D-Ill., will take the helm of the Financial Services panel in the Senate, according to sources who spoke on condition of anonymity because a formal announcement had not been made.

Obey also decided to bring back the old Legislative Branch Subcommittee in the House, which had remained separate in the Senate but was abolished in 2005 by House Republicans. A new member of the Appropriations Committee, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., will become its chairwoman.

Committee rules dictate that Democrats on the panel are allowed to "protect" two subcommittee slots first, and then may choose whatever is available in a third selection round. Since more senior members did not opt for the Legislative Branch gavel, it fell to Wasserman Schultz in her first year on the committee. Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., will be chairwoman in the Senate.

Heading panels for the first time are Rep. David Price, D-N.C., who will be chairman of the Homeland Security Subcommittee, and Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., who will be chairman of the Military Construction-Veterans Affairs panel in that chamber.

Some Senate moves include Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., to the Energy and Water Subcommittee from the Interior Subcommittee and Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., to replace him at Interior, moving from the Military Construction Subcommittee. Others who were ranking members in the previous Congress will become "cardinals" this year.

The panels also are deciding their subcommittee memberships Thursday, with some plum posts open, including four open Democratic slots on the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee. Those are going to Reps. Bud Cramer of Alabama; Allen Boyd of Florida; Steven Rothman of New Jersey; and Sanford Bishop of Georgia, according to a list obtained by CongressDaily.

Christian Bourge contributed to this report.