Klobuchar gets seat on Senate Judiciary Committee

Sen. Klobuchar
Minnesota U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar has been chosen to fill a spot on the Senate Judiciary Committee.
MPR Photo/Mark Zdechlik

(AP) - Sen. Amy Klobuchar has won a spot on the influential Senate Judiciary Committee.

The Minnesota Democrat and former prosecutor was one of two members appointed to fill the committee seats vacated by Vice President Joseph Biden and Sen. Edward M. Kennedy.

Klobuchar's office says she's the first Minnesotan to serve on the panel in nearly 75 years. She also keeps her seats on the Commerce, Agriculture and the Environment and Public Works committees.

Before she was elected to the U.S. Senate, Klobuchar served for eight years as the Hennepin County attorney, the chief prosecutor for Minnesota's largest county.

Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy says Klobuchar will participate in the committee' vote next Wednesday on the nomination of Eric Holder to be attorney general.

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