Rebecca Davies

ebecca Davies is praised as "tough, but fair" by House Republicans who negotiate across the table with her. Republicans say that as an experienced appropriations staff member, she knows when to cut a deal, but has tremendous loyalty to Senate Homeland Security Subcommittee Chairman Thad Cochran, R-Miss. "She's a consummate pro," said one GOP House source.

Both the House and Senate Appropriations committees added homeland-security subcommittees last year, so Cochran and Davies had to cobble together a staff and produce an appropriations bill quickly. Like its House counterpart, the Senate subcommittee held a series of oversight hearings. With full-committee member Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., serving as the ranking member on the subcommittee, Bush administration officials were subjected to grilling when they testified before the subcommittee.

Although the Appropriations panel has traditionally been seen as a haven of male staffers, the staff directors of the House and Senate Homeland Security subcommittees are women. Some appropriations conference committees can be difficult for staff and members to navigate, but the homeland conference "was not too contentious," said one House staffer.

Before her present position at the Homeland Security panel, Davies served as staff director when Cochran chaired the Agriculture funding panel and was known as being prickly but knowledgeable. She served as director of appropriations for the Senate Budget Committee until 1985. She then transferred to the appropriations side as deputy staff director. In addition to serving on the Agriculture panel, she also worked on the treasury-postal appropriations subcommittee.

Davies grew up in Maryland and has a history of declining to provide any biographical information about herself. Cochran is the No. 2 ranking member on the Appropriations Committee, so if he becomes chairman of the full committee, Davies's next stop may be back at the full panel.