How did Progressives do?
You can look at a list of the Blue Dog Democrats here.
The following Blue Dogs are no longer in Congress:
Ed Case (Hawaii) and Harold Ford, Jr. (Tennessee).
Meanwhile, Jane Harman (California) will probably be denied her chairmanship of the Intelligence Committee. Collin Peterson (Minnesota) will probably get the Chair of the Agriculture Committee. That looks to be the extent of their power in the new Congress.
You can look at a list of the New Democrats (DLC) here.
Juanita Millender-McDonald (California) stands to chair the House Administration Committee. She’s a New Democrat but she is also an African-American woman, and the first ever to chair a permanent committee of Congress. Rep. Silvestre Reyes (Texas) might get the chair of Intelligence (if Alcee Hastings is denied). He’s a new Democrat, but he’s also Hispanic. That would also be a first as far as I know. John Spratt (South Carolina) will be chair of the Budget Committee. This is the full extent of DLC power in the new house.
Here’s a list of the Progressive Caucus. Sherrod Brown in now a Senator from Ohio. Bernie Sanders in now a Senator from Vermont. John Conyers, Jr. will now chair the Judiciary Committee. Bob Filner will chair the Veteran’s Affairs Committee. Barney Frank will chair the Finances Committee. Tom Lantos will chair the Foreign Relations Committee. George Miller will chair the Education Committee. Charlie Rangel will chair the Ways and Means Committee. Louis Slaughter will chair the Rules Committee. Bennie Thompson will chair the Homeland Security Committee. Nydia Velazquez will chair the Small Business Committee. And Henry Waxman will chair the Government Reform Committee.
So, don’t listen to naysayers, or to the media, or to Rahm Emanuel. Progressives WILL NOW DOMINATE in the House. Progressives HAVE NEVER WIELDED THIS MUCH POWER IN HISTORY within either chamber of Congress.
The Senate is a different story. Adding Brown and Sanders and Whitehouse and Klobuchar is great. Adding Casey Jr. and Webb? Not so much. Overall, it’s more significant that Kennedy will take over Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, Leahy will take over Judiciary, and maybe Boxer and Murray might wind up with committees. It’s progress.
