Walz moves to Armed Services Committee; delegation committees set

Lawmakers’ committee assignments give an idea of the issues most important to them.

Jan. 12, 2015

Rep. Tim Walz, a National Guard veteran and co-chair of the USO Congressional Caucus, spoke to USO volunteers in Washington on Wednesday.

Over the past year, Rep. Tim Walz has sought to grow his influence on veterans and military issues.

WASHINGTON — As he had hoped, Rep. Tim Walz will get a spot on the House Armed Services Committee, Democratic leadership announced Friday.

After his bid to lead Democrats on the Veterans Affairs Committee failed in November, Walz pushed to be added to the Armed Services Committee so he could grow his influence on veterans and military issues. He dropped off of the Transportation Committee to get the Armed Services spot, but he told MinnPost last year that it was a trade he was willing to make, given the transportation panel’s recent inability to move forward on major funding bills.

In a Friday statement, Walz said he was “honored” to win an assignment to Armed Services (something that still needs to be approved by the Democratic caucus, which is all but a formality).

Lawmakers use their committee assignments to either push issues they care about or to help them craft new legislative portfolios. Walz wanted to be on both Veterans Affairs and Armed Services, for example, because he wants to work more on military issues, and Rep. Tom Emmer, a congressional newcomer, says he sees his assignments (Agriculture and Foreign Affairs) as a potent combo given how much overlap there is between the two committees on topics like trade.

With that in mind, here’s a rundown of the committee assignments for Minnesota’s congressional delegation:

Sen. Amy Klobuchar:

Judiciary
Commerce
Agriculture
Rules
Ranking Democrat, Joint Economic
Chair, Steering and Policy (an intra-party conference committee that helps set policy for the conference)

Sen. Al Franken:

Judiciary
Health, Education, Labor and Pensions
Indian Affairs
Energy

Rep. Tim Walz:

Agriculture
Veterans Affairs
Armed Services

Rep. John Kline:

Chair, Education and the Workforce
Armed Services

Rep. Erik Paulsen:

Ways and Means

Rep. Betty McCollum:

Appropriations (most senior Democrat on the Interior subcommittee; also serves on defense subcommittee)

Rep. Keith Ellison:

Financial Services
Democratic Steering Committee (similar to the Senate version, a party committee that sets a platform and works on committee assignments)

Rep. Tom Emmer:

Agriculture
Foreign Affairs

Rep. Collin Peterson:

Ranking Democrat, Agriculture

Rep. Rick Nolan:

Agriculture
Transportation

Devin Henry can be reached at dhenry@minnpost.com. Follow him on Twitter: @dhenry