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By Niels Lesniewski Posted at 5 a.m. on March 5, 2015

Shaheens indefatigable efforts on behalf of the Homeland Security appropriations bill earned kudosfrom fellow Democrats. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

Jeanne Shaheen didnt have months to prepare for becoming the leading Democrat on Homeland Security spending. She didnt get the chance to start the process at the beginning, with the presidents budget request and weeks of hearings.

The New Hampshire Democrat had no such opportunity because from the moment she became the ranking member of the Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, she was operating in budget crisis mode, thanks to last Decembers cromnibus deal, with the DHS relying on stopgap spending until Wednesdays signing of a full-year funding measure.

But even new to the role, Shaheen was everywhere. Fresh off a bruising re-election campaign in a cycle that saw many of her colleagues swept from office, she was back on the trail, whetherholding a conference call or visiting a firehouse or Coast Guard station.

Sen. Thomas R. Carper, the Delaware Democrat who serves as ranking member of the authorizing committee, said Shaheen was proving to be an able successor at the spending subcommittee.

The person she follows is Mary [L.] Landrieu, and Mary Landrieu is a tigress. [She] was tenacious on all kinds of issues including Homeland Security issues, and Jeanne, with whom I served as governor for a number of years, stepped up and showed great passion, tenacity and leadership skills that wouldve made Mary proud, Carper said. Certainly made me proud of her.

Senator Shaheen showed again why the caucus trusts and respects her leadership by refusing to let anyone play politics with Homeland Security,Minority Leader Harry Reid said in a statement to CQ Roll Call. She stood strong for the people of New Hampshire and helped lead the fight to ensure that the men and women who protect our homeland would not be used as pawns in a political game. Her hard work and leadership on this issue have been invaluable.

Landrieu, the Louisiana Democrat who lost re-election in 2014 to Republican Bill Cassidy, was known for aparticular level of tenacity in and around the Senate chamber.

Carper said Shaheen played a key role in holding the Democratic caucus together, along with Sen. Charles E. Schumer of New York and the top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, Barbara A. Mikulski of Maryland. Carper also highlighted the roles played by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Reid in bringing to an end the standoff over funding the DHS without blocking the presidents executive actions on immigration.

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Shaheen Finds Her Groove in Successful DHS Funding Fight