Reed Announces Committee Leadership Assignments for 118th Congress
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, after the Senate Appropriations Committee fully organized, U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) announced his full slate of committee and subcommittee assignments for the 118th Congress. Senator Reed will continue serving on four ‘A’ committees: Armed Services; Appropriations; Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs; and the Select Committee on Intelligence. These assignments include two of the three ‘Super A’ Committees: Armed Services and Appropriations.
Senator Reed retains two key gavels: serving as Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) and as the Chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on the Legislative Branch.
With these two gavels, Reed is well-positioned to deliver for Rhode Island while overseeing the U.S. Department of Defense and federal spending decisions through the appropriations process.
“I am honored to continue serving on these key committees and will look to build on recent progress. My committee assignments help me deliver positive results for Rhode Island, safeguard the nation, expand economic opportunity, and build a brighter future for all Americans,” said Reed. “As Congress grapples with a range of complex challenges and opportunities, I will do everything in my power to strengthen our economy, lower prices for working families, and ensure Rhode Islanders’ needs are met. I will continue to be a relentless advocate for our state and focus on the issues that Rhode Islanders care about.”
In 2022, under Reed’s leadership as SASC Chairman, Congress passed the fiscal year 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which authorized $847 billion for the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) and the national security programs of the U.S. Department of Energy. The NDAA offers a blueprint to equip, supply, and train U.S. forces; provide for military families; and strengthen oversight of the Defense Department and military programs. The defense industry is a high-tech sector that contributes to Rhode Island’s economic growth, generates good-paying jobs, and has been a resilient segment of the state’s economy. According to the latest Rhode Island data, the defense industry generated over $4.3 billion in annual economic impact for Rhode Island and a total employment share of 6.2 percent of the state’s workforce.
Last year, Reed also helped lead passage of a $6.9 billion fiscal year 2023 Legislative Branch Appropriations Bill that made key investments to ensure an efficient, effective, functioning government that works for the American people. The new law makes key investments in both resources and staffing to protect the Capitol complex, workers, and keep visitors safe, in light of the January 6th 2021 assault on the U.S. Capitol. It also continues upgrades to Congress’ physical security and cyber defenses while strengthening the capacity of important legislative branch agencies, such as the non-partisan watchdog Government Accountability Office, which helps enhance transparency and accountability throughout the federal government to save taxpayers money. It also makes needed investments to modernize the Library of Congress operations and technology and make its collection more accessible to the American people.
Senator Reed is the Chairman of the powerful Senate Armed Services Committee, which is responsible for overseeing the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD), military services operating across the domains of land, sea, air, cyberspace, and space, and all DOD agencies, including their budgets and policies, and national security aspects of nuclear energy. Each year, SASC is tasked with producing and passing the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
The U.S. Department of Defense is the largest federal agency and the nation’s largest employer, with nearly 3.4 million employees, including service members and civilians. The U.S. Armed Forces are comprised of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Space Force. The Army National Guard and Air National Guard are reserve components of their services, which operate in part under state authority.
In addition to chairing the Armed Services Committee, Reed is also a member of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, which provides him with additional oversight responsibilities in determining how defense dollars are spent.
Senator Reed will continue to serve as Rhode Island’s only member of the powerful Appropriations Committee, which controls the funding of the federal government.
Senator Reed is the fourth most senior member of the Appropriations Committee. He works tirelessly to direct federal funding to the Ocean State to create jobs, strengthen infrastructure, and support economic and community development initiatives.
Senator Reed will remain an Appropriations “cardinal,” as the Chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on the Legislative Branch. This subcommittee funds the operations of both the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate, as well as the support agencies of Congress, including the U.S. Capitol Police, Architect of the Capitol, Library of Congress, Congressional Budget Office (CBO), Government Accountability Office (GAO), and several other federal support agencies. The subcommittee appropriates funds necessary for Congress to independently perform its legislative and oversight roles and make its work accessible to the American people.
Additionally, Senator Reed will serve on six other prominent Appropriations Subcommittees, and is the only Democrat on the panel to hold seven subcommittee assignments: Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (CJS); Defense; Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies; Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (Labor-H); Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies (MilCon-VA); and Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development (THUD).
BANKING, HOUSING & URBAN AFFAIRS
A champion of consumer protection, affordable housing, and mass-transit, Senator Reed will continue serving as a key member of the Banking, Housing & Urban Affairs Committee, which has broad oversight over our nation’s financial institutions, capital markets, consumer finance, monetary policy, and housing and mass transit programs. Senator Reed is the most senior Democratic member of the panel, but Senate rules dictate that members may only chair one full committee at a time.
Senator Reed has used his Banking Committee post to author Wall Street reform and consumer protection laws, including his ‘warrants law,’ which forced the return of over $10 billion dollars to taxpayers. He also successfully urged the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to focus greater attention on climate risk disclosures for public companies. The committee also oversees federal housing policy and authorizes mass-transit investments, and Senator Reed used his role on the committee led to create two affordable housing funds: the Housing Trust Fund and the Capital Magnet Fund.
It was Senator Reed’s senior leadership on the Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, coupled with his work on the Appropriations Committee, that earned him a spot as one of twenty members of the bipartisan working group that was tasked with developing the CARES Act (Public Law No. 116-136). Senator Reed was the driving force behind the successful effort to create the $150 billion Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF) in the CARES Act and successfully secured a small state minimum of $1.25 billion in the law. Senator Reed continues to play an active role in pushing legislation to direct additional federal funds to states and local governments to help save lives and address the economic impact caused by the pandemic.
As America faces an affordable housing crisis, which worsened during the pandemic, Senator Reed will play a key role in providing relief for renters and homeowners, and helping to revitalize communities by expanding the supply of affordable housing. Reed will also use his seat on this committee to boost mass-transit infrastructure in order to help connect communities and more Americans to jobs and economic opportunity.
Senator Reed will continue serving on three key Banking subcommittees: Securities, Insurance, and Investment; Economic Policy; and Housing, Transportation, and Community Development.
By virtue of his chairmanship of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Reed is also an ex officio member of the high-profile Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, which oversees the U.S. Intelligence Community. As an ex officio member of the committee, Senator Reed regularly participates in open and closed-door briefings and hearings with top intelligence officials from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), and the National Security Agency (NSA), but he does not vote in committee.
The Intelligence Committee was established in 1976 to oversee the range of civilian and military agencies and departments that make up the U.S. Intelligence Community, and has wide influence over U.S. national security and foreign policy.
The President of the United States is required by law to ensure that the Intelligence Committee is kept “fully and currently informed” of intelligence activities. As a result, U.S. intelligence agencies must notify the Committee of its activities, including covert actions.
First time in nearly 30 years: Rhode Island has two full Committee Chairmen in U.S. Senate
In addition to Senator Reed’s Chairmanship of the Senate Armed Services Committee, U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) will take over the gavel for the Senate Budget Committee. This marks the first time since 1995 that two U.S. Senators from Rhode Island will hold full committee gavels. The last time it happened was when Senator John Chafee (R-RI) led the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW) while Senator Claiborne Pell (D-RI) simultaneously served as Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee.
Now in his fifth term of service to the people of Rhode Island, Senator Reed has accrued the seventh most seniority in the entire U.S. Senate.
