BREAKING: McCaskill Named Top Democrat on Senate Homeland Security Committee

Senator’s career-long fight to restore confidence in government by rooting out waste, fraud and abuse culminates in appointment as top-ranking Democrat on Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill today was named the top-ranking Democrat on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, which has broad jurisdiction over the federal government’s operations and the Department of Homeland Security.

For the past two years, McCaskill has served as the top Democrat on the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. Her new position as ranking member on the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee will dramatically expand McCaskill’s role in federal government oversight, protecting the homeland, and the guarding of taxpayer dollars from waste, fraud and abuse.

“Holding the government accountable to its people, guarding taxpayer dollars from waste, and better protecting the safety of Missouri’s families have been the bread and butter of my work in the Senate,” said McCaskill, a former prosecutor and Missouri State Auditor. “I’m thrilled to have a bigger platform and stronger tools to fight for accountability and boost the safety and security of our communities.”

McCaskill will serve alongside Republican Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, who will again be Chairman of the Homeland Security Committee.

As the top Democrat on the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, McCaskill, along with Republican Chairman Rob Portman of Ohio, has led a number of high-profile investigations, including into online sex trafficking conducted by the website Backpage.com, which culminated in the company’s CEO being held in contempt of Congress and ordered by the courts to turn over documents responsive to the Subcommittee’s subpoena. McCaskill also examined customer service and billing practices at the nation’s largest cable and satellite television providers—pulling back the curtain on the companies’ internal workings.

During her first term in the Senate, McCaskill waged a successful six-year battle to rein in wasteful wartime contracting practices in Iraq and Afghanistan, and ultimately passed into law the most expansive reforms to wartime contracting practices since World War II. The legislation grew out of her campaign promise to continue Truman’s legacy of guarding taxpayer dollars from waste, fraud, and abuse of power.

Visit mccaskill.senate.gov/accountability to read more about McCaskill’s fight for stronger accountability in Washington.

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