Off committee, Coleman avoids Census chat with Bachmann

Norm Coleman used to sit on the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs, which oversees the U.S. Census Bureau. But now that he’s out of the U.S. Senate, he won’t have to worry about turning a corner at the Capitol and running into U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann and her deep suspicions about the Census. As with Agriculture, Coleman’s seats on Homeland Security and three other committees have been re-assigned.

Utah’s Bob Bennett nabbed the Homeland Security post. Jim Inhofe of land-locked Oklahoma picked up Coleman’s seat on Foreign Relations. Idaho Sen. Jim Risch will take over the vacant seat on the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship.

All were being held for Coleman, should he prevail in court and win re-election over Al Franken.

With Coleman gone, Minnesota won’t have representation on Homeland Security, Foreign Affairs or Small Business, since Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken aren’t members.

Klobuchar does sit on Agriculture, and Franken was assigned to the Special Committee on Aging, where Coleman’s seat fell to Georgia’s Saxby Chambliss, who unlike Coleman triumphed in a post-election showdown.

But even Klobuchar, sporting approval ratings among the highest in Minnesota, tip-toes by Bachmann when speaking to Minnesotans about filling out their Census forms.