Washington — The Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs organized itself in its first business meeting of the 114^th Congress on Thursday. The committee adopted rules, agreed to a subcommittee structure, authorized its spending, and recommended two nominees to the Senate as a whole.

Committee Chairman Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) spoke of the committee’s history of bipartisan cooperation. He told members he expects the committee will find areas of agreement. “I’m hoping this committee can lay out the reality,” he said, “agree on the reality of the situation. Once you’ve done that, then you try and set achievable goals.” With such an approach, he said, “it’s really a lot easier finding the solutions.”

The committee voted to recommend two nominees to go to the Senate floor: Russell C. Deyo to be Under Secretary for Management, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and Earl L. Gay to be Deputy Director, Office of Personnel Management. The votes were by voice.

The committee will have three subcommittees:

• The Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, chaired by Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), with Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) as ranking member.
• The Subcommittee on Federal Spending Oversight and Emergency Management, chaired by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), with Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) as ranking member.
• The Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs and Federal Management, chaired by Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.), with Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) as ranking member. 

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