Two Republicans are set to face off for the top GOP spot on the Senate Appropriations Committee in the coming weeks, with Kansas Sen. Jerry Moran saying he’ll challenge Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski for the seat.
“I’m still pursuing that opportunity,” Moran said in an interview Thursday afternoon.
Murkowski is next in line for the role under the Senate Republican Conference’s seniority policy, and her office confirmed this week that she intends to seek the position following the election defeat of the current chair, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, in last week’s midterms.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune said in a brief interview Thursday that he is currently staying out of the dispute. “I haven’t weighed into that,” he said, adding that he told Murkowski that she and Moran “need to talk it out” and that “we’ll see where those conversations lead.”
But Moran said the two have already discussed the issue, and neither is budging. “She and I have been talking on several occasions since this began,” he said. “But I’m not sure how you talk this to a conclusion.”
Moran said GOP senators on the Appropriations Committee will first weigh in, followed by a vote by all Senate Republicans. While it’s possible internal conference decisions could be made this year, the Senate is set to ratify those selections on the floor in early January.
Moran would not say whether he would stop pursuing his party’s top committee spot if he were promised a choice subcommittee perch like leading the defense funding panel. But he said Murkowski intends to take the top Republican spot on both the full committee and the coveted subcommittee in charge of doling out roughly $1 trillion for military programs each year.
Asked about Moran’s challenge, Murkowski said Thursday that she would “rather talk with members than talk through the press,” adding, “I think that’s how we respect one another.”
