Quick Read: What the New Democratic Congressional Majority Means for the Incoming Cabinet and Committee

As reported by Politico Pulse regarding the 50 votes the Democratic Party holds in the 117^th Congress:

“— The immediate impact: Biden gets his Cabinet. Adding Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff to the Senate means that suddenly Republicans’ threats to block HHS nominee Xavier Becerra from confirmation over his abortion rights record don’t mean much of anything. And that would go doubly for Neera Tanden, the Office of Management and Budget pick whose nomination many Republicans (and quietly, several Democrats) deemed dead on arrival just a few weeks ago.

Instead, they’d only need to convince 50 Democrats to back them, a process that a newly Democratic-controlled Senate will be eager to speed along.

— Dems would also get the gavels. Sen. Patty Murray – who has spent months advocating for a stronger federal Covid response – is in line to lead the HELP Committee if Democrats take power. And Sen. Ron Wyden is poised to run the powerful Finance Committee, where he’s been central to the push for sweeping drug pricing legislation.”