Senate appropriators are facing what could be a major shake-up in subcommittee leadership after the upcoming elections, particularly in control over the largest slice of annual discretionary spending: defense.
Current Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Jon Tester, D-Mont., is in a perilous position in his reelection race against Republican Tim Sheehy, a Navy veteran and founder of an aerial firefighting company. Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales rates the race Tilt Republican.
The Republican side on the panel could also be facing a major change. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., is leaving his current role and returning to a leadership position on the Appropriations Committee, where he’s currently the longest-serving panel member outside of Patty Murray, D-Wash., the current full committee chair. Murray and McConnell each joined Appropriations in 1993.
