Thursday, August 11, 2011

Final Three Members of "Supercommittee" Named



House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi on Thursday filled out the final three slots on the joint deficit committee by selecting three members of her leadership team to the panel.

Pelosi (D-Calif.) chose Reps. James E. Clyburn (D-S.C.), Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.) and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), giving the panel the highest-ranking African-American and Latino lawmakers in Congress with Clyburn and Becerra, respectively. Pelosi reiterated her call for Congress to consider “the grand bargain” of major entitlement cuts matched with increased taxes.

Clyburn is the No. 3 Democratic leader and Becerra is the No. 5 member of her leadership team. As the top Democrat on the House Budget Committee, Van Hollen is an adjunct member of leadership and previously spent four years as the party’s campaign strategist as the head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

The three House Democrats complete the 12-member panel, which must turn in its recommendations for $1.2 trillion in additional spending cuts by Thanksgiving or risk pulling an automatic trigger for deep cuts to federal agencies and defense programs.

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