The Senate Agriculture Committee is welcoming four new members to the panel, including Democrat Adam Schiff of California, who will be the committee's first representative from the No. 1 state in ag production since the 1980s.
Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., announced his party's committee rosters Thursday for the new Congress that kicks off Friday. Republicans, who are taking control of the Senate on Friday, announced their committee lineups in December, including two new members of the Ag Committee, Jerry Moran of Kansas and Jim Justice of West Virginia.
Michigan Democrat Elissa Slotkin, a former House member hailing from a meatpacking family, is also joining the committee. She won the seat left open by the retirement of Senate Ag Chair Debbie Stabenow.
Slotkin's great-grandfather founded Hygrade Foods, a meat processing business, in Detroit about 75 years ago that created the Ballpark Frank first sold at Tiger Stadium.
Schiff served in the House from 2001 to 2024 before winning the general election against Republican Steve Garvey to fill the seat once held by the late Diane Feinstein. During a debate with Garvey in October, Schiff said California must use water more efficiently and said he would follow the lead of Feinstein by taking a centrist approach to water and ag issues.
Schiff is the first member from California to sit on the Agriculture Committee since Republican Pete Wilson in the 1980s. Schiff was the lead impeachment manager in the first impeachment trial of President Donald Trump.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., will serve as the Ag Committee’s ranking member. Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., will take over as chairman of the Ag Committee.
Justice, former governor of West Virginia, founded Justice Farms in his home in the late 1970s, and since has grown the operation to be one of the top grain producers on the East Coast. He also developed Stoney Brook Plantation, a 15,000-acre hunting and fishing preserve, and has led more than 100 companies as president and CEO to become the richest person in the state.
Justice has also been assigned to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources and the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship.
Moran, who has never been on the Ag Committee but has been a longtime vocal industry supporter, was assigned to eight committees. However, some of those may be redistributed to the individuals selected to fill the Senate seats held by Vice President-elect JD Vance of Ohio and Marco Rubio of Florida, President-elect Donald Trump's pick as secretary of state.
Mike Braun is the only Republican member departing from the committee, due to his election as governor of Indiana. The committee's returning GOP members are Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, John Hoeven of North Dakota, Joni Ernst of Iowa, Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi, Roger Marshall of Kansas, Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, Chuck Grassley of Iowa, Deb Fischer of Nebraska, and John Thune of South Dakota, the new Senate majority leader.
The returning Senate Ag Committee Democrats are Michael Bennet of Colorado, Tina Smith of Minnesota, Dick Durbin of Illinois, Cory Booker of New Jersey, Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico, Raphael Warnock of Georgia, Peter Welch of Vermont and John Fetterman of Pennsylvania.
Democratic Sen. Kristen Gillibrand of New York is leaving Ag and joining the Appropriations Committee.
The Finance Committee, which oversees tax and trade policy, will have four new Democratic members who also sit on Ag: Smith, Luján, Warnock and Welch.
The Environment and Public Works Committee, which has jurisdiction over the EPA and biofuel policy, will have a new ranking Democrat, Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island. Ag Committee members on the EPW panel will include Boozman, Schiff and Moran.
Republicans named six new Republicans to the House Agriculture Committee in December, including five freshmen members and Washington Rep. Dan Newhouse who recently completed a term as chair of the Western Caucus. Democrats haven't named their committee membership yet.
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