Sen. Ted Kennedy’s death sparks a shuffle of key Senate committee assignments. 

It’s still unclear who will succeed Kennedy as chairman at the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) committee, though Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) is next in line in terms of seniority. Dodd led the committee’s health care reform mark up earlier this summer in Kennedy’s absence.

However, Dodd currently chairs the Senate Banking Committee, which has put him in the middle of some of the biggest legislative initiatives of the last year — such as the $700 billion bank bailout and a current effort to rewrite the financial services regulatory laws. It’s not clear he would want to give that up.

If Dodd were to stay on the banking committee, Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) is next in line for the HELP committee. If Dodd does take over Kennedy’s chairmanship, Sen. Tim Johnson (D-SD) ranks next in seniority at the banking commitee. However, given Johnson’s health, Democrats might instead turn to Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI).
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