Roberts on track to chair Senate Ag Committee

Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., has said that if he wins a fourth term and his party takes over the Senate, he’d hope to chair the Senate Agriculture Committee. Last week Politico called that “likely.” That’s because although Roberts is the third-ranking Republican, “top Republican Thad Cochran would take Appropriations and the No. 2 Republican, Mitch McConnell, would be busy running the Senate.” That would be a nice plum for Kansas, which lost its seemingly permanent seat on the House Agriculture Committee in 2012 to the inability of Rep. Tim Huelskamp, R-Fowler, to work well with others. The Politico report predicted that as chairman, Roberts would push for significant cuts to food stamps. Of course, if the Democrats lose the Senate one of the biggest winners would be Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., who would have accomplished his mission as chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. – Rhonda Holman

This story was originally published September 21, 2014 at 7:04 PM with the headline "Roberts on track to chair Senate Ag Committee."