Warren of Massachusetts joins senate Democratic leadership team
Bloomberg News
U.S. Senate Democrats elevated first-term Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren to an expanded leadership team, Majority Leader Harry Reid said today.
Senate Democrats, during a private meeting today, also returned Reid as leader. His top three lieutenants -- Richard Durbin of Illinois, Schumer and Patty Murray of Washington -- also will keep their leadership posts as Democrats prepare to become the Senate's minority party in January.
Also joining the Democratic leadership team are Senators Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Jon Tester of Montana, who will lead the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Reid said.
Senators Claire McCaskill of Missouri and Joe Manchin of West Virginia told reporters they opposed Reid in the secret- ballot vote.
"I voted for a change," said Manchin. "I did not vote to accept the leadership team." He said "quite a few" members sought a week's extension on the leadership election, and that a delay was voted down.
McCaskill said, "We are going to have a period of introspection and a lot of meetings."
The inclusion of Warren in leadership reflects the main point of tension for Democrats as they try to recapture the Senate in 2016. Their activists want to rein in Wall Street's influence and their candidates need Wall Street's money to compete.
Warren has a newly created role as liaison to liberal groups.
'Into Leadership'
"This is obviously an attempt to bring Senator Warren into leadership and align her thoughts more closely with leadership, but I don't think that would be successful because it would be wholly inconsistent with her persona and leadership style to date to fall in line," said Isaac Boltansky, an analyst at Compass Point Research & Trading LLC in Washington and a former staffer for Warren on the Congressional Oversight Panel.
Senator Debbie Stabenow said before today's private caucus that Warren and others are being added to the communications committee in an effort to "bring in different voices."
"We are looking for ways to broaden. We have so much talent in the caucus," said Stabenow of Michigan.
Warren, 65, gained national recognition by pushing for stricter regulation of financial service companies. She was a popular campaigner for fellow Democrats before the Nov. 4 election.
The lack of a shakeup at the top of Democratic leadership is notable after the party lost at least eight Senate seats in the election, meaning Republicans will take control in January. A Dec. 6 runoff in Louisiana will determine whether Republicans start the next Congress with 53 or 54 of the 100 seats.
It's somewhat unusual for a first-term member to be given a leadership post, although Alaska Senator Mark Begich -- who lost his seat last week after one term -- was part of Democrats' team in the last Congress.
Warren, a former Harvard University professor, defeated Republican incumbent Scott Brown in 2012.
Among the candidates Warren campaigned for this year was Democrat Alison Lundergan Grimes, who mounted an unsuccessful bid to oust Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.
Before her election to the Senate, Warren was an adviser to President Barack Obama and helped create an agency designed to help protect Americans from shoddy financial products. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is a centerpiece of the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial regulatory revamp.
Following opposition from some Republican lawmakers, Warren was passed over for head of the bureau in favor of Richard Cordray. That decision by the Obama administration played a role in her decision to run for the U.S. Senate.
McConnell was unanimously re-elected as Senate Republican leader today in a separate private meeting, his spokesman, Don Stewart, told reporters. McConnell will become majority leader in January.
In the only contested race, Senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi defeated Dean Heller of Nevada to be chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, Wicker said in a press release.
The rest of the Senate Republican leaders were re-elected, including John Cornyn of Texas as whip, the second-ranking spot; Republican Conference Chairman John Thune of South Dakota; conference Vice Chairman Roy Blunt of Missouri, and Republican Policy Committee Chairman John Barrasso of Wyoming. Maine's Susan Collins described the Republican elections as "smooth sailing."