Sen. Jon Husted, R-Ohio, is set to replace newly confirmed Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin on the Senate Appropriations Committee, Husted confirmed Tuesday. 

Husted, who had been his state’s lieutenant governor, was appointed to the Senate in January 2025 to replace Vice President JD Vance. He’s now locked in a tight battle to retain his seat against longtime former Sen. Sherrod Brown, who lost his reelection bid in 2024. 

Husted’s race is rated Lean Republican by Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales, in a state that has drifted rightward in recent decades. Brown raised $7.3 million in the fourth quarter of last year and ended December with $9.9 million, compared to $1.5 million raised in the fourth quarter for Husted and $6 million on hand. 

The Ohio Republican has been a familiar face in state politics, serving as the secretary of state and speaker of the Ohio House before becoming lieutenant governor. 

During his time in the Senate, Husted has focused on policy and generally stayed out of the spotlight. 

He did jump into the fray during the debate over health care last fall, proposing a two-year extension of the expiring enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies. His bill featured anti-abortion Hyde amendment language and other eligibility restrictions, including a cap at 600 percent of the federal poverty level. 

He also successfully championed the repeal of a Biden-era Energy Department rule updating energy efficiency certification and labeling requirements for household appliances, and sought regulation of operators of artificial intelligence chatbots, including age verification and parental consent requirements. 

The departure of Mullin, who was confirmed as Homeland Security secretary Monday night, will also open up the chairmanship of the Legislative Branch Appropriations Subcommittee. 

It’s not yet clear who would take that role. Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., is next in line based on seniority, but she already has two subcommittee gavels, the most allowed under GOP rules.

Fischer, who served as the Legislative Branch Appropriations Subcommittee ranking member from 2023 to the start of the current Congress in January 2025, said Tuesday she wasn’t sure if she would get a waiver and move into the role. 

“I already have two chairs of subcommittees, big subcommittees,” she said, pointing to her leadership roles on the Senate Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee and the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Telecommunications and Media Subcommittee. 

“So I don’t know, I hadn’t heard that,” she said.  

Husted serves on the Environment and Public Works Committee; Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee; Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee; and Special Aging Committee. 

He has no subcommittee gavels, but said Tuesday that he didn’t think he would be taking the Legislative Branch post and said he was “pretty sure” it would be Fischer.