Leaders Take Their Places on Congressional Science Panels

The House and Senate committees responsible for science agencies have finalized their rosters and subcommittee leadership assignments for the current Congress, which has brought significant changes.

Most notably, the Senate committees are now controlled by Democrats for the first time in six years, and the party has taken unified control over the congressional agenda for the first time in a decade. In addition, a number of the top Democratic and Republican gavels have passed to new hands on some key committees, though many familiar figures are also returning.

Lists of legislative and executive branch leaders with responsibility for physical sciences programs are available in FYI’s Federal Science Leadership Tracker .

House and Senate Appropriations Committees

The House and Senate Appropriations Committees each have 12 mirror-image subcommittees that together draft Congress’ annual spending legislation.

With the power shift in the Senate, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) has moved from ranking member to chair of the Energy-Water Subcommittee, which is responsible for the Department of Energy’s budget. Her state is home to three of DOE’s national labs and she has long been an advocate for the department’s nuclear nonproliferation programs and a critic of past failures to find permanent repositories for spent fuel from nuclear power plants.

Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) is the subcommittee’s new top Republican, replacing Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN), a leading advocate for DOE’s research programs and national labs who retired in January. DOE does not have a large research footprint in Kennedy’s state, in contrast to those of Alexander and Feinstein.

Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) is the new chair of the Interior-Environment Subcommittee, which is responsible for the budgets of the Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Geological Survey, taking over as top Democrat from retired Sen. Tom Udall (D-NM). Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) returns as the subcommittee’s top Republican.

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) has stepped down from his role as the top Democrat on the Defense Subcommittee after becoming chair of the Judiciary Committee. Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) has taken his place on the subcommittee, which is responsible for the Defense Department’s expansive research, development, test, and evaluation portfolio. Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL) returns as the top Republican on both the subcommittee and the full committee, though he has announced he will not seek reelection in 2022.

Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Jerry Moran (R-KS) return as the top Democrat and Republican on the Commerce-Justice-Science Subcommittee, which has jurisdiction over NASA, the National Science Foundation, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and National Institute of Standards and Technology. Likewise, Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) and Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO) are holding their spots atop the subcommittee responsible for the National Institutes of Health. Like Shelby, Blunt has announced he will not seek reelection in 2022.

On the House side, Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) is now chair of the Appropriations Committee following the retirement of Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY) and is also continuing as chair of the subcommittee for NIH. With the retirement of Rep. José Serrano (D-NY), Rep. Matt Cartwright (D-PA) is now chair of the Commerce-Justice-Science Subcommittee. Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN) has switched to chairing the Defense Subcommittee from chairing the Interior-Environment Subcommittee, which is now led by Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-ME). Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) remains the chair of the Energy-Water Subcommittee.

Rep. Kay Granger (R-TX) remains as the top Republican appropriator and all but one of the Republican subcommittee leaders have kept their spots.

Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee

The Senate Commerce Committee oversees several science agencies, including NASA, NSF, NIST, and NOAA.

Taking over as committee chair, Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) noted she is the first woman to lead the committee and said she intends to consider ways the panel can support women in the workforce, particularly in STEM fields. She has also recently expressed interest in addressing a range of science policy subjects, including the integrity of government data, anticipated interference of 5G equipment with weather observations, the competitiveness of U.S. weather forecasting models, and the impact of ocean noise on orca populations. Former Committee Chair Roger Wicker (R-MS) is still the leading Republican.

In the new Congress, the committee has adopted an updated subcommittee structure .

Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-CO) is chair of a new Space and Science Subcommittee , which oversees NASA, NSF, and NIST. Newly elected, Hickenlooper is a former governor of Colorado and began his career as a petroleum geologist. The top Republican is Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), who is also new to the Senate and holds degrees in animal science, biology, and law. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) previously chaired a subcommittee with jurisdiction over NASA, but is now ranking member of a new subcommittee focused exclusively on aviation.

Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) will chair the new Oceans, Fisheries, Climate Change, and Manufacturing Subcommittee , having been the ranking Democrat on the former Science, Oceans, Fisheries, and Weather Subcommittee. The new panel continues to oversee NOAA, the U.S. Global Change Research Program, and manufacturing programs under the Commerce Department. Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK) is now the ranking Republican.

Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee oversees the Departments of Energy and the Interior. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) has taken over as committee chair from Sen. Murkowski, whom he worked with to successfully shepherd the Energy Act of 2020 into law last year. Representing a state with struggling coal-mining communities as well as a branch of the National Energy Technology Laboratory, Manchin advocates for “innovation, not elimination” in transitioning to clean energy and was influential in making carbon mitigation technology a central component of the Energy Act.

Having served three terms as the committee’s top Republican, Murkowski has now stepped aside and is replaced by Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY), a vocal defender of his state’s interests in fossil fuels and uranium. The new chair of the Energy Subcommittee is renewable energy advocate Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI), taking over as top Democrat from Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM), an advocate for Los Alamos and Sandia National Labs in his state. The new top Republican on the subcommittee is Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND), replacing Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA).

House Science, Space, and Technology Committee

Reps. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) and Frank Lucas (R-OK) are continuing as the respective chair and ranking Republican of the House Science Committee, which has a jurisdiction that covers NASA, NSF, and NIST, and science programs at NOAA, DOE, and the EPA, as well as a host of cross-government science policy issues.

With the defeat of Rep. Kendra Horn (D-OK) in the November election, Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA) is taking over as chair of the Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee, while Rep. Brian Babin (R-TX) remains the top Republican. Newly elected Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), a proponent of the Green New Deal concept, is taking over as chair of the Energy Subcommittee from Rep. Lizzie Fletcher (D-TX), and Rep. Randy Weber (R-TX), a nuclear energy advocate, is still the subcommittee’s lead Republican.

Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI), an advocate for NIST and federal manufacturing programs, remains chair of the Research and Technology Subcommittee, while Rep. Jim Baird (R-IN) is replaced as top Republican by Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL), who has taken a strong interest in research security. Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) continues as chair of the Environment Subcommittee, while Rep. Stephanie Bice (R-OK), who defeated Horn, takes over as top Republican from Rep. Roger Marshall (R-KS), who was elected to the Senate.

Former Fermilab physicist Rep. Bill Foster (D-IL) is still chair of the Investigations and Oversight Subcommittee. Taking over from Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC) as ranking Republican is newly elected Rep. Jay Obernolte (R-CA), who earned a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering from Caltech and a master’s degree in artificial intelligence from UCLA.

House and Senate Armed Services Committees

The House Armed Services Committee has realigned its subcommittees with responsibility over science and technology. Reps. Jim Langevin (D-RI) and Elise Stefanik (R-NY) are now respectively the chair and ranking member of the Cyber, Innovative Technologies, and Information Systems Subcommittee, having held the same positions on the former Intelligence and Emerging Threats and Capabilities Subcommittee, which had a similar jurisdiction.

Reps. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) with Trent Kelly (R-MS) are now respectively chair and ranking member of a new Intelligence and Special Operations Subcommittee, which has a jurisdiction that includes efforts to counter chemical, biological, and radiological weapons, among other issues. The Strategic Forces Subcommittee, which oversees the National Nuclear Security Administration, is unaffected by the reorganization and Reps. Jim Cooper (D-TN) and Mike Turner (R-OH) remain the chair and ranking member.

On the Senate side, Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ), a former NASA astronaut, is now chair of the Emerging Threats and Capabilities Subcommittee, taking over as top Democrat from Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI). Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) remains the top Republican. Sen. Angus King (I-ME), who caucuses with the Democrats, is now chair of the Strategic Forces Subcommittee, taking Sen. Heinrich’s spot as the top Democrat. Sen. Deb Fischer (R-NE) returns as the subcommittee’s lead Republican.