California’s Alex Padilla gets choice Senate committee assignments - San Francisco Chronicle

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WASHINGTON — Sen. Alex Padilla has big shoes to fill in taking the Senate seat formerly held by Vice President Kamala Harris. He’s starting by getting some of her prominent committee assignments.

The California Democrat will sit on the Environment and Public Works Committee, Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and Judiciary Committee, assignments that will give him high-profile questioning opportunities and a hand in shaping major policies that affect California. He will also sit on the Budget and Rules committees, panels that have internal clout in the Senate.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., announced the committee spots Tuesday, as he continued to negotiate a resolution to organize the 50-50 Senate with GOP leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. Party leadership controls the assignments, and the number of seats for the parties on each committee depends on the partisan split in the broader Senate. With Harris as the tie-breaking vote, Democrats now control the majority and the committee gavels.

Padilla’s seats give him an opportunity to raise his national profile, much as they did for Harris. She sat on the same committees, starting out on the environment panel and then trading it for a spot on Judiciary in 2018. Harris also was on the Intelligence Committee, but did not serve on Rules.

Harris’ sharp questioning of former President Donald Trump’s nominees and officials on those committees helped vault her into the top contenders for the Democratic presidential race, which in turn built the case for her nomination as vice president.

The Judiciary Committee handles court nominations, including for the Supreme Court, which are often televised affairs. That committee also shares jurisdiction over immigration policy with the Homeland Security panel, an issue on which Padilla is already positioning himself to be a major player.