GOP/POLITICAL FIGURES: “Sen. Thad Cochran, chairman of the powerful Appropriations Committee, hasn’t presided over a hearing since early September. The Mississippi Republican has not given a speech on the Senate floor all year, and he’s introduced only two bills during that time, both of them minor.
To the extent that Cochran weighs in on any issue, it’s in the form of an official statement from his office or the appropriations panel. He has stopped meeting with anyone about substantive committee business, including other senators or House members, according to several sources familiar with his activities. Cochran’s aides deny this is the case.
The 80-year-old’s feeble performance has fueled expectations — among senators and aides who’ve witnessed his physical and mental decline firsthand — that Cochran will step down from the Appropriations chairmanship early next year, or resign from the Senate altogether…
However, Sen. Richard Shelby (Ala.), the No. 2 Republican on the panel, is effectively serving as chairman, according to numerous senators and GOP staffers. Shelby is expected to take over if Cochran steps aside.
Shelby declined to discuss Cochran or his own role on the panel.
Both the House and Senate have been forced to replace aging or sick committee chairmen in the past, an extraordinarily delicate undertaking. Few of these senior lawmakers easily give up their powerful posts: The decision affects not only them but their home states and districts, as well the network of lobbyists and consultants who rely on their patronage.”
-John Bresnahan, “Cochran’s future in the Senate in doubt,” Politico, Dec. 21, 2017 04:55am