Lisa Murkowski

Chairmanships are ordinarily awarded based on seniority, and two other Republicans, Sens. Rand Paul (R-KY) and Susan Collins (R-ME), have served there longer. Both already run separate committees, however, and cannot hold two gavels at a time under conference rules.

“I am relatively senior on the committee, but there are other individuals in front of me,” Murkowski said. “As you know, it’s all a question of what they would do with their selections, and whether they keep their current committees.

“So, is it something that you think about? Yeah.”

Paul is, so far, noncommittal on whether he wants to chair the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. He leads the Senate panel that deals with homeland security and governmental affairs.

Collins, for her part, would have to give up a plum post chairing the Senate Appropriations Committee to take over for Cassidy. There’s also a question over whether she will return next year as she runs for a sixth term in Maine, a top battleground state.

For the time being, Murkowski’s interest in the HELP post pits her against Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS), who has previously expressed interest. Marshall is just below Murkowski in terms of seniority.

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The two have vastly different backgrounds and would likely take the panel in different directions politically. Marshall, a doctor by trade, is an outspoken ally of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Murkowski, meanwhile, is ideologically closer to Cassidy, who has grown increasingly critical of Kennedy and his vaccine skepticism.