Van Hollen lands seat on Banking Committee

Sen.-elect Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) will serve on the Senate Banking, Budget, Appropriations and Agriculture committees, he announced Monday.

“A seat on the Banking Committee will also allow me to continue my work to ensure that Wall Street is held accountable and that Marylanders never again face the huge financial disruptions that we saw with the Great Recession in 2008,” he said in a statement.

Van Hollen was elected last November to succeed retiring Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.). He’ll take her seat on the Appropriations committee, where he’ll focus on Maryland federal facilities “central to America’s future and Maryland’s economy.”

Van Hollen had represented Maryland’s well-off northwest Washington, D.C. suburbs since 2003, and served as House Budget Committee ranking Democrat in the last session of Congress.

“Budgets are not just dollars and cents — they are a statement of our nation’s priorities,” said Van Hollen. “I’ve been honored to serve on the House Budget Committee for the last six years, and I’m pleased to continue that work in the U.S. Senate.”