WASHINGTON (AP) - Sen. Chris Coons, Delaware's junior senator, has been appointed to the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Barbara Mikulski, a Maryland Democrat, announced Coons' appointment on Thursday. Coons will take over the seat held by New Jersey Sen. Frank Lautenberg, who died June 3.
Mikulski said she and Coons have worked together on issues that affect Maryland and Delaware.
Coons will keep his chairmanships of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Bankruptcy and the Courts and the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on African Affairs.
Coons, a Democrat, was elected to the Senate in a special election in 2010. He succeeded Joe Biden, who was elected vice president, and Ted Kaufman, who was appointed to the seat after Biden resigned.
He will be the fourth Delawarean to serve on the Appropriations Committee.
