Leaders of a bipartisan House-Senate budget committee — (l-r) Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., and Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Maryland — speak to reporters at the Capitol on Thursday morning following their initial meeting. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Meet the Supercommittee Light. The emergency fiscal deal that became law early Thursday morning, among other things, mandates a House-Senate committee come up with a set of bipartisan budget recommendations.
The panel will be composed of seven Democrats and seven Republicans from each chamber. Their task is to find what quickly became Washington’s new buzz phrase on Thursday morning: “Common ground.” The bicameral budget committee also will try to do something that suddenly unites Senate Democrats and congressional defense hawks: Replace sequestration with other deficit-cutting items. The Supercommittee’s plan would have been implemented; but this new Supercommittee Light’s recommendations will be non-binding.
Good luck. That worked proved too tough for the last special deficit-trimming panel, the infamous Supercommittee that failed to pass a final report back in late 2011. And the bitterness between the two parties has only gotten more intense since. Click “more” link to meet the Supercommittee Light.
Here are the members of the Supercommittee Light that were selected by House and Senate leaders:
House Republicans: Reps. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin (Budget Committee chairman); Diane Black of Tennessee; Tom Cole of Oklahoma; Tom Price of Georgia.
House Democrats: Rep. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland (Budget Committee ranking member); James Clyburn of South Carolina; and Nita Lowey of New York.
Senate Democrats: Patty Murray of Washington (Budget Committee chairwoman); Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin; Chris Coons of Delaware; Tim Kaine of Virginia; Angus King, a Maine independent; Jeff Merkley of Oregon; Bill Nelson of Florida; Bernie Sander of Vermont; Debbie Stabenow of Michigan; Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island; and Ron Wyden of Oregon.
Senate Republicans: Sens. Jeff Sessions of Alabama (Budget Committee ranking member); Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire; Mike Crapo of Idaho; Mike Enzi of Wyoming; Lindsey Graham of South Carolina; Chuck Grassley of Iowa; Ron Johnson of Wisconsin; Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania; and Roger Wicker of Mississippi.