Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) is poised to become the chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee for the 2022 cycle as Democrats seek to defend their control of the 50-50 split Senate, according to multiple people familiar with the internal deliberations.Peters is beginning his second term after winning a narrow victory over Republican John James in Michigan last year in one of just two competitive races featuring Democratic incumbents defending their seats. Democrats took control of the Senate majority after flipping four seats — in Arizona, Colorado and both Georgia seats — and losing just one, in Alabama.The DSCC chair is selected by incoming Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who previously ran the committee for two cycles in 2006 and 2008, and has led the party’s political strategy as Democratic leader for the past four years. Peters emerged as the frontrunner recently, according to two people familiar with the discussion who

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The Senate confirmed President Joe Biden’s nominee to lead the U.S. intelligence agencies on Wednesday evening, just hours after the new commander-in-chief took office.Avril Haines, Biden’s pick to serve as director of national intelligence, was confirmed by an 84-10 vote, winning bipartisan support from senators. Haines is Biden’s first Cabinet-level official confirmed by the Senate.Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) cleared the way for a vote earlier Wednesday after initially resisting speedy confirmation of her nomination. According to a source familiar with the matter, Cotton wanted Haines to answer a question centering on efforts to prosecute CIA officers who might have been involved with the government’s so-called enhanced interrogation techniques against suspected terrorists.“[Haines] clarified in a private setting that she had no intention to open up those investigations and expose operations officers inside the CIA to criminal prosecutions or adverse employment action,” Cotton said on the Senate floor after lifting his objection.Any

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Democrats are now officially in charge of the Senate, capping the best day for the party in 12 years. Chuck Schumer became majority leader late Wednesday afternoon, following the swearing in of Democratic Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock of Georgia and Alex Padilla of California by Vice President Kamala Harris. The Senate “will turn to Democratic control under the first New York-born majority leader in American history, a kid from Brooklyn, the son of an exterminator and a housewife, descendents of victims of the Holocaust,” Schumer said in his maiden speech as majority leader. “That I should be leader of this new Senate majority is an awesome responsibility.” Schumer, who was minority leader for four years, will be also be the first Jewish majority leader. And Ossoff and Warnock are the first Jewish and Black senators, respectively, to represent Georgia, which hasn’t sent a Democrat to the Senate in

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