The Senate Subcommittee on Communications will be undergoing a complete makeover at the front of the table. First Ranking Member Jim DeMint (R-SC) retired to take a post with the Heritage Foundation, and now Chairman John Kerry (D-MA) is moving a few blocks west to Foggy Bottom to take over the State Department, pending Senate confirmation.
There is no chance that the two members currently listed after the Chair and Ranking Member will be moving into either position. Olympia Snowe (R-ME) also retired, and Daniel Inouye (D-HI) passed away after a nearly 50-year run in the Senate.
The next on the list for the Democrats is Barbara Boxer (D-CA), and for the Republicans it is John Thune (R-SD). But it’s anybody’s guess who will wind up with the leadership position at this point.
Broadcasters have been somewhat relieved to see DeMint exit, since he was pushing legislation that may have damaged broadcasters’ position in retransmission consent negotiations.
