With major business pending before it, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee that U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) chairs will need someone to take the reins during his medical absence.

But because it is customary that a senator chair no more than one committee at a time, Politico reports that the chairmanship may very well fall to fourth-in-line member, U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Baltimore).

A conference committee on an overhaul of the Higher Education Act is currently postponed, while a bill on electronic medical records is nearing completion.

The second and third majority members of the committee, Sens. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) and Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), chair the Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee and Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee, respectively.

Mikulski would likely keep her seat on the Appropriations Committee as well.