Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden is poised to take over the chairmanship of the Senate Finance Committee now that Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., has

at the end of his term next year.

Wyden, a Democrat who has been in the Senate since 1996, is next in line to ascend to the chairmanship if the Democrats can maintain their majority in the Senate in the 2014 elections.

The chairmanship would put Wyden in the most powerful position any Oregon senator has had since Republican Mark Hatfield chaired the appropriations committee before his retirement in 1997. Bob Packwood, also an Oregon Republican, chaired the finance committee until he resigned from the Senate in 1995.

"It's one of the most powerful congressional committees" said Walt Evans, a Portland lawyer who frequently lobbies Congress. "The policies that come out of that committee -- health care, trade, taxes -- touch every Oregonian."

Wyden, who now chairs the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, declined comment.

“I just heard these press reports, and I’m not going to comment on them in any way. All I’ve heard are press reports," Wyden told reporters in D.C.,

. "I am not going to comment in any way this morning.”

At this point, Wyden is third in seniority on the committee behind Baucus and Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W. Va. However, Rockefeller has also announced his retirement.

--Jeff Mapes