Capitol Hill guessing game: What will Sen. Murray do in 2017? | McClatchy Washington Bureau

After endorsing former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for president on Tuesday, Sen. Bernie Sanders has his eyes set on 2017, when his top goal is to take over as chairman or ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.

It would provide Sanders, I-Vermont, with a powerful post from which to push his signature plans for universal health care and free college tuition, but there’s one big obstacle: Washington’s Democratic Sen. Patty Murray, the current ranking member, who would have to give up the job.

“I don’t know what the dynamics are, where Patty may or may not go,” Sanders said in an interview on C-SPAN.

The question of where Murray may or may not go in 2017 – assuming the political experts are right and she wins her fifth six-year term in November – has become a popular guessing game on Capitol Hill.

Among the choices:

– With Maryland Sen. Barbara Mikulski retiring, will Murray try to move to become the top Democrat on the powerful Appropriations Committee, giving her a chance to steer more money to Washington state?

– Or with Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada leaving, too, will she ignite an intra-party fight by challenging Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin for the No. 2 Democratic leadership slot?

– Or if Clinton, her close ally, moves to the White House, will Murray just decide to stay put on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, giving her a chance to take the lead in working with the new president on the bread-and-butter domestic agenda – labor, education, health and women’s issues – that have defined much of her 24-year career in politics?

While Murray is not disclosing her plans until after the election, her decisions could go a long way in shaping the look of her party’s leadership on some of the most high-profile committees in Congress next year.

And the stakes will be particularly high if Democrats win the five additional seats they need to take control of the Senate.

In an interview, Murray said it’s far too early to make any decisions.

“Look, I am not going to speculate about future Congresses at all,” she said. “I am very focused on doing the job that is the best for Washington state. That’s what I do now, and that’s what I will look at in the future and always. . . . None of us know what things will look like after the election.”

While moving to the top spot on the Appropriations Committee would have obvious advantages for Murray, she said that her current assignment on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee allows her to take the lead on many of the major issues facing the country.

Either way, she said that deciding between the two top spots would pose an “incredibly exciting opportunity.” And she said that she has not ruled out challenging Durbin.

“I’m not ruling it in – I’m not ruling it out,” Murray said.

One thing is certain: At 65, Murray is enjoying the perks that accompany longevity in the U.S. Senate, an institution where few things count more than seniority.

“She’s got wonderful possibilities and she has worked very, very hard,” said former Washington state Democratic Rep. Norm Dicks, who served 36 years in Congress and whom Murray once called both her mentor and adviser. “She’s in a very strong position.”

Murray, who joined the Senate in 1993, will likely rank third in seniority among Senate Democrats next year, trailing only Patrick Leahy of Vermont and Dianne Feinstein of California. Currently, she ranks sixth among the Senate’s 46 Democrats, but she’ll move up with the departures of Reid, Mikulski and Barbara Boxer of California.

While she does have the power to block Sanders from taking her spot on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, Murray would need some help in taking a similar spot on the Appropriations Committee, where she now ranks third among Democrats.

That would have to come from Leahy, who now ranks second and is also up for re-election. Many believe that if he wins, as expected, he would be more likely to keep his No. 1 spot on the Judiciary Committee. If Democrats win the Senate, Leahy would become the panel’s chairman, putting him in charge of the high-profile Supreme Court hearings that are sure to come with a new presidency. But if Republicans maintain the majority, others predict that Leahy may be more inclined to take the top Democratic spot on Appropriations.

Even though Congress no longer permits the use of earmarks for individual projects, Dicks said that Murray could use the Appropriations post to deliver more money for veterans, national parks, health programs and universities in Washington state.

But he said: “Only she can decide which of these committee assignments she takes. These are going to be very important but difficult decisions.”

No senator from Washington state has headed the committee since Democrat Warren Magnuson in the late 1970s. Magnuson, always known as “Maggie” in his home state, developed a national reputation for delivering the bacon, prompting former Democratic Vice President Walter Mondale once to quip that Magnuson believed in a 50-50 distribution of federal money – “half for Washington state and half for the rest of the country.”

But Chris Vance, the former chairman of the Washington state Republican Party and Murray’s GOP opponent this year, noted that voters threw Magnuson out of office at the height of his power: He lost his re-election bid in 1980 after serving 44 years in Congress.

“Voters are not impressed by how powerful you are on Capitol Hill,” Vance said. “I’m going to keep reminding them that Patty Murray is one of the most powerful members of the U.S. Senate – because people are furious at Congress. Her strength is a great weakness this year. Voters want change, and she is the poster child for the Capitol Hill establishment.”

Todd Donovan, professor of political science at Western Washington University in Bellingham, Washington, said that Vance faces an uphill battle and that Murray is “pretty sure to win,” but he’s not expecting the senator to emphasize any of her committee experience as she makes the rounds with voters.

“She ran as an outsider, a mom in tennis shoes, and she still keeps this demeanor and appearance of somebody’s who’s just a regular person,” Donovan said. “Getting perks in the budget for your state certainly helps, but you can’t message that in a campaign.”