A spokesman to Sen. Mike Enzi says the Wyoming Republican is seeking the chairmanship up the Senate Budget Committee, setting up a showdown next month with Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama for the important post.
Sessions is currently the top Republican on the Budget Committee but Enzi technically has seniority over Sessions even though both were elected to the Senate in 1996.
Under Senate GOP rules, it's up to the Republicans on the committee to elect a chairman, and the decision is almost always ratified by the party's full Senate membership. Seniority is a factor but not the only one.
The panel's chief responsibility is to draft a budget blueprint each year that sets parameters for follow-up legislation.
Sessions has been the top Republican on the panel since 2011.
