Landrieu at Energy Panel Helm Aids Oil Industry as It Helps Her
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A shakeup of committee chairmanships stands to boost the clout of the oil and gas industry in the U.S. Senate at the same time it strengthens the candidacy of one of the chamber’s most vulnerable Democrats.
Senator Mary Landrieu of Louisiana will probably become the chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee early next year, giving the gavel to a lawmaker with deep ties to home-state oil producers and refiners. The shift stems from President Barack Obama’s nomination of Democratic Senator Max Baucus of Montana to be U.S. ambassador to China, and the likelihood that the current energy panel chairman, Democratic Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon, will replace Baucus at the head of the Senate Finance Committee.