Republicans to Control 108th Congress
November 8, 2002-The Republican Party regained control
of the Senate and slightly increased their majority in the
House in the Nov. 5 mid-term election.
Republicans picked up a net gain of two Senate seats to hold
a 51 to 47 margin in the new Congress, with one independent
and the Louisiana race to be decided in Dec. 7 run-off. Two
incumbent Democrats lost - Jean Carnahan (Mo.) and Max Cleland
(Ga.) - and the Democrats also lost Paul Wellstone's seat
in Minnesota. The only incumbent Republican Senator to lose
was Tim Hutchinson (Ark.).
Ten new senators will be sworn in as part of the 108th Congress,
including:
- Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), former governor and U.S. Secretary
of Education who sought the Republican presidential nomination
in 1996 and 2000;
- Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), a four-term Congressman who
chairs the House Intelligence Committee on Homeland Security;
- Norm Coleman (R-Minn.), who was elected Mayor of St.
Paul in 1993 as a Democrat and defeated former Vice President
Walter Mondale, who stepped in following the death of Senator
Wellstone;
- John Cornyn (R-Texas), current Texas attorney general
who also served as a district court judge and on the Texas
Supreme Court;
- Elizabeth Dole (R-N.C.), who served as Secretary of Transportation
1983-1987 and Secretary of Labor in 1989-1990 and sought
the Republican nomination for President in 2000;
- Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a four term member of the House
who serves on the Education and Workforce, Judiciary, and
Armed Services committees.
- Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), who served in the Senate from
1983 through 2001;
- Mike Pryor (D-Ark.), currently Attorney General for Arkansas,
whose father served 18 years in the Senate;
- John Sununu (R-N.H.), a three-term member of the House
whose father was governor and then White House chief of
staff in the first Bush Administration; and
- Jim Talent (R-Mo.), who served in the House from 1993
to 2001 and gave up his seat to run for governor in 2000;
Republicans Capture Historic Gains in House
In the House, the Republican Party built on its majority,
marking only the second time since 1934 that a sitting president's
party didn't lose House seats in a midterm ballot - the first
time for a Republican president since 1902. Republicans won
228 seats, Democrats won 204 seats with 1 independent and
2 races undecided at press time. The composition of the House
going into the election was 223 Republicans, 208 Democrats,
1 independent and 3 vacancies.
Several House members supportive of academic medicine were
defeated, including Karen Thurman (D-Fla.), a member of the
Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health; Connie Morella (R-Md.),
a member of the Science Committee and a strong supporter of
NIH; and George Gekas (R-Pa.), chair of the Congressional
Biomedical Research Caucus.
Senate and House Reaction
Fallout from Tuesday's election results was swift. Incoming
Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.) announced Nov.
6 that he hopes to cut short the lame-duck session in favor
of passing a continuing resolution to fund the federal government
through early next year. This would put him at odds with appropriators
eager to complete the remaining 11 appropriations bills before
adjourning the 107th Congress sine die.
With the Republicans taking control of the Senate, the following
individuals are expected to chair committees of interest to
academic medicine: Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), Appropriations;
Don Nickles (R-Okla.), Budget; Charles Grassley (R-Iowa),
Finance; Judd Gregg (R-N.H.), Health, Education, Labor and
Pensions (HELP); Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), Veterans; and John
McCain (R-Ariz.), Commerce, Science and Transportation. At
the subcommittee level, Senator Specter is expected to resume
control of the Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Subcommittee
and Christopher Bond (R-Mo.) is set to take over the VA-HUD
subcommittee. Senator Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) is in line to take
over the HELP Public Health Subcommittee and Senator Olympia
Snowe (R-Maine) could take over as Chair of the Finance Subcommittee
on Health Care.
Meanwhile, House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt (D-Mo.)
announced Nov. 7 that he will not seek another term as his
party's leader in the House. Gephardt's announcement sets
up a contest between Minority Whip Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.),
who is favored, and Caucus Chair Martin Frost (D-Texas) to
take over as Minority Leader. Pelosi's decision in turn opens
the way for Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) to move up to the Minority
Whip position.
On the Republican side in the House, Majority Whip Tom DeLay
(R-Texas) is expected to take over as Majority Leader for
the retiring Dick Armey (R-Texas), with Chief Deputy Majority
Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) set to become Whip. Deborah Pryce (R-Ohio)
is expected to win over J.D. Hayworth (R-Ariz.) and Jim Ryun
(R-Kan.) in the contest for Republican Conference Chairman.
Both the Senate and House will return to Washington on Nov.
12 for organizational meetings.
Information:
Dave Moore, Senior Associate Vice President
AAMC Government Relations
dbmoore@aamc.org
(202) 828-0525
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