Landrieu’s ascension to chairmanship could bring her both pitfalls and advantages. Not on Landrieu's watch

Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) inched closer Tuesday to her goal of chairing the Energy and Natural Resources Committee — but she won’t officially get the job until after the panel takes a vote that could complicate her reelection chances.

Barring any weather-related schedule changes, the committee was due to vote Thursday morning on Rhea Suh’s nomination to be assistant secretary of the Interior for fish and wildlife and parks, which has drawn opposition from Republicans over her role in the Obama administration’s oil and gas policies. Landrieu’s leading Republican challenger in her reelection bid, Louisiana Rep. Bill Cassidy, signed a letter Tuesday asking her and Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) to oppose the nomination.


Landrieu won’t preside over that vote, even though Senate Democrats agreed during a closed-door policy lunch Tuesday to have her replace Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) as chairman of the Energy Committee. Wyden, whose move to chair the Finance Committee also won approval during the lunch, will stay on as energy chairman through the Suh vote.

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The full Senate was expected to approve Landrieu’s and Wyden’s new roles sometime Thursday, although that schedule is subject to change because of expected snow.

The full Senate is expected to approve Landrieu’s and Wyden’s new roles sometime Thursday.

Wyden didn’t answer directly Tuesday when asked if the delay is meant to avoid having Landrieu bring up Suh’s nomination. “[Suh] has been before the United States Senate now I think in a manner that ensures she has been well-considered by senators,” Wyden said. “And we ought to have a chance to vote.”

Deliberate or not, the lag in Landrieu’s ascension shows that heading the powerful committee could bring her some political pitfalls as well as advantages as she seeks reelection. A poll released Tuesday showed her and Cassidy in a statistical tie.

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Landrieu had been expected to get the energy chairmanship as early as Tuesday. Landrieu helped fuel those expectations in remarks she made to utility regulators Tuesday morning, when she said that “I just found out this morning at 10 o’clock that I will be the chair of the Energy Committee today at 1.”

Democrats did indeed approve her chairmanship at the closed-door lunch around that time. The next step is the formality of full Senate approval, which can be done quickly by unanimous consent.

Landrieu told reporters Tuesday afternoon that she and Wyden still have some loose ends to tie up in their current jobs.

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“Sen. Wyden has some business to finish up on energy and I have some business to finish up on” the Small Business Committee, which Landrieu now chairs, she told reporters. “So we both need to have one more meeting of our committees and then the switch will basically take place next week.”

In their letter to Landrieu opposing the Suh nomination, Cassidy and other House Republicans from Louisiana argued that “Ms. Suh has spent the past four years at a high level in the department advocating against natural gas production and implementing policies such as the ill-directed moratorium in the Gulf that displaced thousands of Louisiana workers.” Reps. Charles Boustany, Steve Scalise, John Fleming and Vance McAllister also signed the letter.

Vitter voted against Suh last week in the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and reiterated his opposition Tuesday. Energy and Natural Resources ranking member Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) has also signaled she doesn’t support Suh.

Landrieu told reporters Wednesday that she will vote for Suh in committee. “I will be supporting her, yes,” she said. “My Republican colleagues expressed a view I don’t share a lot of.”

An objection from just one Democrat on the committee could put Suh’s nomination in jeopardy if every Republican votes against her. The panel has 12 Democrats and 10 Republicans.

But if Suh emerges from committee, her prospects in the full Senate could be much brighter thanks to Majority Leader Harry Reid’s elimination of the filibuster for executive branch nominations, even if some Democrats like Landrieu vote against her on the floor.

Meanwhile, a poll released Tuesday shows that Landrieu’s electoral hopes face their own question marks. The poll, from the Democratic firm Public Policy Polling, shows Landrieu leading Cassidy 45 percent to 44 percent. She had previously led 50 percent to 40 percent in August and 48 points to 41 points in October.

The margin of error for the new poll is plus or minus 3.9 percentage points.

In a statement announcing fellow Democrats’ approval of her new chairmanship, Landrieu said the Senate will vote Thursday on a resolution allowing her to officially take the committee’s helm.

As chairwoman, Landrieu said she “will remain focused on moving an agenda forward that is inclusive, bipartisan and focused on the job creation that America needs and wants.” She added that “increasing domestic energy production and fortifying and expanding the infrastructure that connects producers, refiners and consumers will help us achieve this goal.”

She will be the first woman to chair the energy panel and the first from Louisiana to hold the post since Sen. Bennett Johnston was replaced by Murkowski’s father, then-Sen. Frank Murkowski (R-Alaska), in 1995.