By Kathleen Hunter, CQ Staff

Jeff Sessions of Alabama agreed to temporarily take the top Republican spot on the Senate Judiciary Committee under a deal with the more senior Charles E. Grassley of Iowa.

Under the agreement, Sessions would be ranking Republican for the remainder of the 111th Congress and then yield the top GOP slot to Grassley in 2011, Sessions said Monday.

Sessions said he had no plans to try to hold on to the ranking Judiciary post in the 112th Congress. By then, he said, he will be in line for the top GOP slot on the Budget Committee.

“Sen. Grassley will be the senior member,” Sessions said. “That’s a little bit ambiguous, perhaps, but I think, under the circumstances, this was a good agreement. Sen. Grassley and I have been very harmonious over the years on the Judiciary Committee, so I would look forward to serving under his leadership after two years.”

Several Republicans on the panel said Sessions was selected by consensus. Under GOP rules, the full Republican Conference must ratify the selection. That action could come as early as Tuesday afternoon.

Several Republicans noted Monday that setting up Grassley to take the top Republican spot on Judiciary in the 112th Congress gives the Iowan an incentive to seek re-election in 2010. Republicans are jittery about retirements because five Senate Republicans have already said they will not run again in 2010.

Sessions’ deal with Grassley settles a succession question that was complicated by term limits and other GOP Conference rules. Orrin G. Hatch of Utah, the former chairman and now the most senior Republican on the committee, is barred from taking over again unless he were granted a waiver.

Grassley, who is next in seniority, would have to give up his top spot on the Finance Committee, a plum assignment from which he is poised to play a pivotal role in the coming debate over a health care overhaul.

Then comes Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl of Arizona, whose party leadership position renders him ineligible for a ranking committee slot. Sessions ranks after Kyl in seniority.

Bart Jansen and Keith Perine contributed to this story.