Portman gets Senate contract oversight spot

Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), a freshman senator with a long history in Washington, has taken the open seat on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee’s Contracting Oversight Subcommittee, a committee spokeswoman said Feb. 15.

The subcommittee, chaired by Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), looks in-depth at contracting issues, such as auditing federal contracts and investigating Alaska Native Corporations’ small-business privileges.

Portman won the Ohio Senate seat in November. He had previously represented a House district in southwestern Ohio from 1993 to 2005. In 2005, he became the U.S. Trade Representative for President George W. Bush. And from 2006 to 2007, he was Office of Management and Budget director in the Bush administration.

The subcommittee’s ranking member slot was left open by Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.).