A congressional committee on finding measures to reduce the nation's deficit is complete, now that House of Representatives Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi has announced her three choices.
Pelosi said Thursday she has selected the third-ranking House Democrat James Clyburn, Democratic Caucus Vice Chair Xavier Becerra, and the senior Democrat on the House Budget Committee, Chris Van Hollen.
Pelosi was the final of four congressional leaders to announce selections for the 12-member panel tasked with finding up to $1.5 trillion in savings to reduce the nation's budget deficit. The panel has until November 23 to produce a set of recommendations that Congress would be expected to pass by the end of the year.
If the committee fails to come to agreement, a wide swath of budget cuts would go into effect across many government agencies.
On Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid selected fellow Democratic Senators Patty Murray, Max Baucus and John Kerry for the committee. Murray's selection has drawn criticism, as she also chairs the committee on Democratic senators' reelection campaigns.
For the Republicans, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell named Republican Senators Jon Kyl, Rob Portman and Pat Toomey. In the House of Representatives, Speaker John Boehner picked Republican Congressmen Jeb Hensarling, Dave Camp and Fred Upton.
White House spokesman Jay Carney has said President Barack Obama expects the members to take their work seriously. He said they need to agree on proposals that can get bipartisan support and pass quickly in Congress.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
