Behind his back, Republican staffers have come to refer to the chairman as Sen. "Kenzi." However, Enzi last month declined to support Kennedy's version of a minimum wage increase and came up with his own proposal.
LOBBYIST SHUFFLE
Ken Rietz, long a major figure in Republican politics, is leaving Burson-Marsteller in March after 30 years while Democratic pollster-political consultant Mark Penn takes over the big lobbying and public relations firm as worldwide CEO.
Penn was President Bill Clinton's pollster and political adviser and is expected to play a similar role in any presidential campaign by Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. The selection of so prominent a Democrat at a time when the government is controlled by the Republicans raised eyebrows in Washington.
Burson-Marsteller's Dec. 7 announcement of Penn's appointment related several other personnel changes but did not mention Rietz's name. He currently is the firm's Washington-based CEO, U.S.
CONGRESSIONAL RESHUFFLE
The new U.S. census estimates project a likely increase after 2010 of five House seats in Republican-dominated "red" states, one more than previously forecast. Nevada is now expected to gain a fourth seat in the House at the expense of Massachusetts, which would lose one of its current 10 seats.
Previous projections had Arizona, Florida, Texas and Utah gaining one seat each. The losers would be Iowa, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania. Each of the states expected to gain in 2010, with the exception of Utah, also won an extra seat after the 2000 census.
The projections were made by Election Data Services, a Washington-based consulting firm that provides information useful for gerrymandering.