The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation will feature restructured subcommittees and several new chairmen in the 116th Congress.
New committee chair Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) announced Friday that several subcommittees would change names and jurisdictions. Wicker announced his chairmanship this past Wednesday (Defense Daily, Jan. 9). Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) will serve as the committee’s ranking member. 
“In an effort to exercise oversight more effectively and develop policy in the many agencies and departments covered by Commerce’s broad jurisdiction, the six subcommittees have been reconfigured,” Wicker said in a Friday statement.
New to the table is the Subcommittee on Security, which will surveil the Coast Guard, the U.S. Maritime Administration, the Transportation Security Administration and the Merchant Marines, as well as share jurisdiction over drone security, cybersecurity and digital network security with other subcommittees.
“The new Subcommittee on Security will address the intersection of economic and national security,” Wicker said.
Also new, the Subcommittee on Aviation and Space will cover the Federal Aviation Administration and NASA, and will share jurisdiction on drones with several other subcommittees.
Wicker’s team also created the new Subcommittees on Transportation and Safety, covering the Department of Transportation and various surface transport agencies and replaces the Subcommittee on Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine Infrastructure, Safety and Security.
The former Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries and Coast Guard Subcommittee has also been reconfigured, with the Coast Guard going under the new Security Subcommittee. Agencies including the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, the National Weather Service, the Office of Science and Technology Policy and the National Institute of Standards and Technology now fall under the new Subcommittee on Science, Oceans, Fisheries, and Weather.
A new Subcommittee on Manufacturing, Trade and Consumer Protection replaces the former Subcommittee for Consumer Protection, Product Safety, Insurance and Data Security. The Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, Innovation and the Internet alone remains unchanged.
The committee will also feature two new subcommittee chairs since the last Congress: Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) is taking over the communications subcommittee for the previous chair Wicker, while Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) will chair the Subcommittee on Science, Oceans, Fisheries, and Weather. Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) is no longer a subcommittee chairman.
Wicker announced the following chair assignments for the newly reconfigured subcommittees, subject to full committee approval:
Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, Innovation, and the Internet – Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.);
Subcommittee on Aviation and Space – Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas);
Subcommittee on Transportation and Safety – Sen. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.);
Subcommittee on Manufacturing, Trade, and Consumer Protection – Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.);
Subcommittee on Security – Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska);
Subcommittee on Science, Oceans, Fisheries, and Weather – Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.).
Subcommittee ranking member and full committee assignments have not yet been released.