KOHL BREAKS INTO TOP QUARTILE OF SENATE SENIORITY

Statesman from Milwaukee Conquers Yet Another Summit
A 20-Year Journey to #6 Democrat Spot on Appropriations Committee;
Soon to be Third on Judiciary Panel

Special to the Readers of Milwaukeeworld

By Michael Horne

and the Milwaukee World Hound Dog Team

Senator Herb Kohl will begin the 111th Congress as at least the 25th most senior member of the World's Most Exclusive Club. Kohl ranked 28th in the 110th Congress, just ahead of Joe Lieberman who took office the same day, January 3rd, 1989. (Democrat Kohl's precedence over the Independent is due to Wisconsin being more populous than Connecticut.) Lieberman today was permitted to retain his chairmanship of his precious Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs despite supporting Republican John McCain (#22) for president. His classmate Kohl is 6th Democrat in seniority on the U.S. Committee on Appropriations, Chairman of the Special Committee on Aging, and fourth Democrat on the Committee on the Judiciary. Advantage: Lieberman.
Herb might even rank as high as 24th if Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska (#4) loses. The Associated Press announced today that Democrat Mark Begich, the mayor of Anchorage, has taken an 814 vote lead over Stevens. Thirty thousand ballots remain to be counted in that state.
Kohl still has a way to go to beat the record of William Proxmire, whom he replaced. At Proxmire's retirement, after 31 years in office, he ranked 3rd in senate seniority.
The seniority ranking assumes that Joe Biden, sixth in seniority, will resign his seat sometime before January 20th, 2009, when he is expected to take the oath as Vice President.
Wisconsin junior senator Russell H. Feingold, now eight places behind Kohl at 36th in seniority, will start at least as 32nd (once Biden is gone) and might make it to 31st if the voters get rid of Stevens.
Both Kohl and Feingold might advance yet one more position if Massachusetts senator John Kerry (#16) takes a position in the administration of former senator Barack Obama (ex-#92), who resigned his seat on November 16th, 2008. The two most senior members of the Senate -- Democrats Robert C. Byrd (#1) and Ted Kennedy (#2) are in declining health.
In the Senate, seniority is still the determinant for committee chairmanships, although recent rules have limited the number of chairmanships a senator may hold.
Seniority also has a real estate function -- Senators choose their office suites (which can vary greatly in size and amenities) based on seniority. Both Kohl and Feingold have offices in the Hart Senate Office Building, a step up from the rookie dumping grounds of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.