Some highlights from http://www.msnbc.com/news/577800.asp
HEALTH, EDUCATION, LABOR AND PENSIONS COMMITTEE: Sen. Ted Kennedy takes over Jeffords’ role as head of the committee in charge of education and labor issues.
JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: This could be the most significant committee over the next few years since it will determine whether Bush will succeed in his attempt to staff the federal courts with conservative judges who, to use his words, “do not legislate from the bench.” If a Supreme Court justice retires or dies, court-watchers expect a titanic battle if Bush nominates a conservative
ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES: Out goes Alaska Republican Frank Murkowski, a stalwart advocate of oil drilling in his state’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and in comes New Mexico Democrat Jeff Bingaman, who is more sympathetic to environmentalists.
"FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEE: (Either Biden or Sarbanes) Thee committee will be one of the battlegrounds in the debate over Bush’s proposal to build a missile defense system.
COMMERCE COMMITTEE: Ernest “Fritz” Hollings said Thursday that he will make no dramatic changes in the agenda of the committee. The panel has broad powers over consumer protection laws, airlines, railroads and telecommunications. Hollings, an outspoken foe of the North American Free Trade Agreement...
ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: Michigan’s Carl Levin, a gruff, no-nonsense veteran of the Senate since 1979, will be a leading opponent of Bush’s plan to deploy a missile defense system to protect the United States and its allies from ballistic missile attack.