Sen. Amy Klobuchar, one of the most senior Democrats eligible to replace Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., on the Finance Committee, is not interested in pursuing the seat, according to a source familiar with her thinking.
Menendez on Tuesday informed Gov. Phil Murphy, D-N.J., and his Senate colleagues that he would resign from the chamber next month following his conviction on bribery charges, which will open up the coveted tax-writing panel slot. He was facing a possible expulsion vote.
Klobuchar is not interested in changing committees at this time, according to the source close to the Minnesota Democrat, who ran for her party’s presidential nomination during the 2020 campaign.
She currently is chairwoman of the Senate Rules and Administration Committee; ranks second among Democrats on the Commerce Committee; and is third in seniority on the Agriculture and Judiciary panels.
Klobuchar chairs Judiciary’s antitrust subcommittee and could be in prime position to succeed retiring Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., as the top Agriculture Democrat. Only Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, outranks Klobuchar on that panel, and if he survives a tough race this November, he’s already the top Democrat on Senate Banking.
Klobuchar’s desire to stay put sharpens focus on more junior Democrats as potential replacements for Menendez, including Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey and Tina Smith of Minnesota.
Senate Democrats favor seniority when determining committee assignments. Democrats are limited to sitting on only one of the three most coveted committees: Appropriations, Armed Services and Finance. The party also limits membership on those committees to only one senator per state, though it’s possible to waive both rules.
Those criteria leave a relatively small pool of Senate Democrats eligible to replace Menendez on Finance without a waiver.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., would be eligible and outranks both Booker and Smith but has passed on the opportunity to join Finance in previous years. Sen. Edward J. Markey, D-Mass., also has them beat on seniority, but he would need a waiver to join the committee because Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., is already a member.
Among Menendez’s possible replacements, Booker would keep New Jersey’s place at the Finance Committee table, with influence over some of the most far-reaching policy issues that lawmakers can touch, including taxes, trade, health care and Social Security.
After the news of Menendez’s resignation broke on Tuesday, Booker wasn’t ready to make his preferences known — at least not before discussing the matter with Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y. “I’m not commenting on that. I haven’t talked to even Chuck Schumer yet,” Booker said.
But now that Menendez’s resignation is locked in, discussions could ramp up.
For their part, progressive advocates are starting to weigh in on the issue, urging Senate Democrats to put one of their own in that seat. They argue the stakes are high given the need to address expiring provisions of the 2017 tax law next year.
Lindsay Owens, executive director of Groundwork Collaborative, said in a statement that Menendez’s replacement on Finance should promise to vote against “a single additional penny in tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations.”
“Wall Street has more than its fair share of advocates on the Senate Finance Committee; the American people deserve a fighter of their own,” added Morris Pearl, chair of Patriotic Millionaires.
The financial services sector is well-represented among Booker’s top career campaign contributors, according to data compiled by OpenSecrets, as well as law firms, Big Tech, The Walt Disney Co. and Stanford University, his alma mater. Among Booker’s top 20 lifetime donors are employees of Goldman Sachs, Apollo Global Management, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Henry Crown & Co. and Morgan Stanley.
While Booker backs relief from the $10,000 cap on state and local tax deductions, which would benefit wealthier households, he’s also a proponent of expanded tax credits for the working poor and for low-income families with children. He also opposed the 2017 tax rate cuts that accrued to upper-income households, and during his own 2020 presidential campaign Booker backed eliminating the tax advantage for investment income by raising rates on capital gains and dividends.
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