In the first of what will be a closely watched selection process for a powerful new deficit panel, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced he will appoint Democratic Sens. Patty Murray of Washington, Max Baucus of Montana and John Kerry of Massachusetts as his three choices for a super committee charged with finding more than $1 trillion in spending cuts by the end of this year. 
 
 Murray will serve as co-chairwoman of the 12-member panel. House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) will select a member to co-chair the committee and two other panelists, as required by the debt-limit agreement signed into law by President Barack Obama last week. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) will each select three additional members. 
 
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 “The Joint Select Committee has been charged with forging the balanced, bipartisan approach to deficit reduction that the American people, the markets and rating agencies like Standard & Poor’s are demanding,” Reid said in a statement. “To achieve that goal, I have appointed three senators who each posses an expertise in budget matters, a commitment to a balanced approach and a track record of forging bipartisan consensus.” 
 
 Reid’s three picks are loyal to the majority leader and are intended to show the Nevada Democrat is serious about forging a bipartisan deal to head off $1.2 trillion in spending cuts required under the debt deal. The super committee was Reid’s contribution to the bipartisan agreement to end the debt-limit fight. 
 
 A senior appropriator and Budget Committee member, Murray is also the chairwoman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which has made the GOP’s focus on overhauling Medicare a centerpiece of the 2012 campaign. Baucus is the chairman of the powerful Finance Committee, while Kerry — the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee — has been lobbying for a spot. 
 
 But the choice of Murray has already spawned anger from Republicans, who called it a blatantly political move aimed at filling coffers for the Democratic campaign committee. Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus called on Reid to withdraw the appointment immediately. 
 
 “The select committee is no place for someone whose top priority is fundraising and politics,” Priebus said. 
 
 Reid and Pelosi had been considering whether to install candidates who will draw a hard-line against deep entitlement cuts, particularly if Republicans don’t bend on new taxes. The Democratic leaders want loyalists who won’t give the panel majority support for a cuts-only approach, which could target popular programs like Medicare and Social Security. 
 
 “The No. 1 criteria should be someone who fights for revenues, and if Republicans continue to rule out revenues, then the Democrats have to play proper defense in response,” said a senior Democratic aide. 
 
 In a joint statement, Kerry, Baucus and Murray said they are serious about answering the call to “step beyond partisanship and politics” and achieve a “balanced, pragmatic and practical” solution to the soaring national debt. 
 
 In an email sent to her colleagues Monday evening, Pelosi said her caucus is committed to “protecting” Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security — and said that the new panel should deliberate in public settings so that it achieves a “balanced” approach to deficit reduction. 
 
 “Many of you have expressed your interest in serving on the joint committee,” Pelosi told her colleagues. “I have and will be reaching out to each of you before making any decision.” ||||| House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) announced she had selected Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.), Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.) for the supercommittee on Thursday. 
 
 All three are either current or former members of Pelosi's leadership team who are seen as close to the former Speaker. 
 
 In a statement Pelosi said it was important for the committee to produce a "grand bargain" on deficit reduction. 
 
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 "We must achieve a ‘grand bargain’ that reduces the deficit by addressing our entire budget, while strengthening Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security," Pelosi said. "Our entire Caucus will work closely with these three appointees toward this goal, which is the goal of the American people." 
 
 The picks were somewhat predictable. Van Hollen, the senior Democrat on the House Budget Committee and former head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, has emerged this year as a high-profile spokesman and steady messenger for the party's policy priorities. 
 
 Clyburn, the third-ranking House Democrat, has been on the front lines of the party's push for job-creating legislation, particularly in low-income communities. 
 
 And Becerra, the vice chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, has been the party's loudest advocate for shoring up the Social Security program without eroding any benefits. 
 
 Both Van Hollen and Clyburn were participants in the failed bipartisan debt-ceiling discussions led earlier in the year by Vice President Biden. 
 
 The committee is charged with finding $1.5 trillion in deficit cuts by Nov. 23. But failure to reach an agreement on those cuts, or if Congress rejects their recommendations, would trigger broad cuts across domestic and defense spending. 
 
 Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) made their picks for the committee earlier in the week. 
 
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 Reid chose Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.), Senate Foreign Relations Chairman John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), the chairwoman of the Senate Democratic campaign committee. Murray is the only woman among 12 panelists. 
 
 McConnell picked Senate Republican Whip Jon Kyl (Ariz.) and freshman Sens. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) and Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), while Boehner picked Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas), Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) and Rep. Dave Camp (D-Mich.). 
 
 The selections include four lawmakers who voted against the recommendations of Obama's debt commission. Including Van Hollen and Clyburn, four of the members were involved in the Biden debt talks. Some of that group's recommendations were included in the deal lawmakers reached with the White House earlier this month to raise the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling. 
 
 In the days leading up to the announcement, there was speculation that Pelosi might tap another Latino member of the Democrats' leadership team, Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas), for the panel. 
 
 Cuellar, a Blue Dog Democrat, has emerged this year as a visible spokesman for jobs and deficit reduction, even sponsoring a constitutional amendment to require a balanced budget. 
 
 By choosing Becerra instead, Pelosi has sent a signal that she wanted more liberal voices at the negotiating table. 
 
 Becerra broke with most other Democratic leaders to vote against the debt-ceiling package last week, saying the "bill "does not speak to the values of America." 
 
 "It is not balanced nor does it ask for shared sacrifice," he said explaining his opposition. 
 
 Some liberal groups are already warning that the members of the supercommittee are less important than what they do. 
 
 “Regardless of the committee’s makeup, developing recommendations that will both preserve and create jobs should be at the top of its priority list," Mary Kay Henry, president of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), said Thursday in a statement. "Nothing is more important than getting America back to work if we want to get our economy back on its feet." 
 
 In her own statement, Pelosi also reiterated her call for the committee's work to be transparent and for meetings to be held in the open. 
 
 "Because the work of this committee will affect all Americans, I called last week for its deliberations to be transparent; the committee should conduct its proceedings in the open," Pelosi said. 
 
 — This story was updated at 1:27 p.m.
– Three down, nine to go. Harry Reid made his three picks for the bipartisan "super committee" that will try to come up with $1.2 trillion of cuts in about 3 months. Reid picked Patty Murray, who will serve as co-chair with a yet-to-be-named Republican, along with John Kerry and Max Baucus. Politico sees the choices as a sign that the Senate majority leader is serious about getting a deal struck. Mitch McConnell, John Boehner, and Nancy Pelosi will each add three picks of their own. At least seven of the 12 will need to agree on a proposal by Thanksgiving if they hope to have it signed by the president by Dec. 23, notes the National Journal. Failure triggers across-the-board cuts. Click to read how Daily Intel wishes the first three were announced, or here to see Jon Stewart's take on the committee.