The twelve members of the special deficit committee have now all been named, as House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi announced her choices Thursday afternoon to the Joint House Senate panel.
Pelosi picked three rather familiar faces, as she tapped Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, a member of the Democratic leadership, another leadership official in Rep. Xavier Becerra of California and the top Democrat on the Budget Committee, Rep. Chris Van Hollen.
All three are Democratic Party veterans. Vote ratings from National Journal show Becerra was the 32nd most liberal Democrat in the House in 2010, Van Hollen at 65 and Clyburn at 109.
They join nine others:
- Sen. John Kyl R-AZ
- Sen. Rob Portman R-OH
- Sen. Pat Toomey R-PA
- Sen. Patty Murray D-WA
- Sen. John Kerry D-MA
- Sen. Max Baucus D-MT
- Rep. Jeb Hensarling R-TX
- Rep. Dave Camp R-MI
- Rep. Fred Upton R-MI The group of twelve members are not expected to meet until September, but there have been some rumblings in the Capitol that maybe an initial meeting could be pushed to an earlier date. The goal is to find budget savings of $1.5 trillion in budget savings over ten years. The special House-Senate panel must produce a plan by Thanksgiving - a vote is needed in the full House and Senate by Christmas. If Congress fails to agree to a plan, then across the board budget cuts would be triggered; they would hit defense, Medicare and domestic spending programs. Members of both parties have called for all meetings of the panel to be televised to insure full transparency on their decisions.
