Ensign resignation frees up top spot on dormant Health panel

“Since legislation is typically considered only by the full committee, most work is done on that basis,” said Bill Pewen, a former staffer for Finance member Olympia Snowe (R-Maine). “The healthcare subcommittee and others conduct valuable hearings, yet with senators holding many full and subcommittee assignments, these are naturally limited.”

Getting the top spot on the subpanel does have one advantage, though: money. The Finance Committee doled out more than $141,000 to top subcommittee staffers of both parties in the six months between April 1 and Sept. 30, 2010, according to the latest available data from LegiStorm.

“Staff is power,” said former Senate Finance staffer Alexander Vachon, now a health policy analyst, “and that’s the wrinkle that most people don’t appreciate.”

Sens. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) and Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) are rumored to be contenders for Ensign’s spot on the Health subcommittee (the assignment doesn’t flow by seniority).