Senate Republicans denied newly elected Sen. Eric Schmitt the waiver he was seeking to serve on the Judiciary Committee. The Missouri Republican now needs to make new committee assignment requests, which is expected to delay the formal organization of Senate committees into next week.
Senate Republican Conference precedent prohibits senators from the same state from serving on a committee together unless one gets a waiver. Schmitt, a lawyer who served as state attorney general before his election to Congress, sought the waiver because fellow Missouri Republican Josh Hawley already serves on Judiciary.
Hawley said he would have been happy to have Schmitt serve on the panel with him but the waiver was denied because there are no open seats on Judiciary.
