The Center for Public Integrity

As chair of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, New Mexico Democrat Jeff Bingaman has been in the middle of the contentious debate over climate regulation and legislation. Bingaman has long been the Democrats’ leading voice on issues concerning energy production and consumption. The 67-year-old has been the top Democrat on the committee since 1999, serving as chairman from 2001-2003 and again since 2007.

If the results of the closely contested 2000 election had gone slightly differently, Joseph I. Lieberman might have spent at least four years helping to run the executive branch of government. But, instead of becoming the 46th Vice President of the United States, the junior senator from Connecticut has been overseeing the operations of the executive branch as chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee.

Longtime liberal stalwart Patrick Leahy of Vermont will continue to be a crucial figure in shaping the future path of the Supreme Court as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The panel has sway over judicial nominations to any federal court, as well as oversight responsibilities for the agencies at the center of the nation’s anti-terror battle: the Department of Justice, the FBI, and the Department of Homeland Security.

Veteran Iowa Democrat Tom Harkin assumed the chairmanship of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee in 2009 following the death of Sen. Edward Kennedy. Harkin became an instrumental force in crafting the massive health care reform legislation that passed last year and he will undoubtedly be a key player in overseeing how the legislation is implemented, or altered, in the coming months.

In early November, the Center for Public Integrity released The Chairmen: New House Leaders Have Familiar Ties to Business, Revolving Door, examining the likely leaders of the 11 committees with the most clout in the new Republican-controlled House of Representatives. Now the Center examines the Democratic counterparts who will lead the comparable committees in the Senate.

The Republican takeover of Congress not only apparently gives the Speaker’s gavel to John Boehner, it also elevates up to 25 senior GOP lawmakers to the roles of committee chairs. And while it may be a few weeks before it becomes clear which members will lead which panels, a Center for Public Integrity examination finds there are some common ties that bind the likely leaders of the 11 committees with the most domestic spending and policy clout.

Two weeks ago, The Center for Public Integrity released an investigative story looking at Congressional lawmakers who publicly denounced the 2009 economic stimulus bill, then privately wrote letters requesting funds for pet projects. Then last week, we teamed up with our friends at the Huffington Post Investigative Fund on a story profiling other candidates – both Democrats and Republicans – who have benefited from government programs, but campaigned on their opposition to federal spending.

A former Marine helicopter pilot, John Kline has represented Minnesota’s 2nd district since 2003. His 25 years in the military included a stint as a military aide to Presidents Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan, with responsibility for carrying the “football,” or black briefcase with nuclear weapon launch codes that accompanies the president at all times. He voted almost 95 percent of the time with his party during the 111th Congress.

Richard “Doc” Hastings, a one-time paper company executive, was among the historic freshman class that swept House Republicans into power in the 1994 midterm elections, under the banner of their “Contract with America.”The former state legislator represents Washington’s 4th district, which encompasses Yakima and the rural heart of the state.

Paul Ryan went to Congress at the age of 28, representing Wisconsin’s 1st congressional district, which includes farm communities as well as southern Milwaukee suburbs. Now 40, Ryan is the senior Republican on the House Budget Committee, which generally oversees federal budgeting and is responsible for an annual budget resolution setting l spending and revenue levels for the coming fiscal year. Now that the GOP has won the House, Ryan seems poised to take over the panel. He also serves as a senior member on the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee.