**FILE** Michael McFaul testifies on Oct. 12, 2011, on Capitol Hill in Washington before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on his nomination as U.S. ambassador to Moscow. (Associated Press)
Sen. Robert Menendez is likely to be elevated to the chairmanship of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The New Jersey Democrat would leapfrog a more senior senator, who would rather retain the chairmanship of another Senate panel. (Associated Press)
Sen. John Barrasso, Wyoming Republican and member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, speaks to reporters at the Capitol in Washington on Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2012, following a closed-door briefing on the investigation into the deadly Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Sen. John Barrasso, Wyoming Republican and member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, speaks to reporters at the Capitol in Washington on Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2012, following a closed-door briefing on the investigation into the deadly Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
** FILE ** Sen. John F. Kerry, Massachusetts Democrat and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, leads a hearing on the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, where the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans were killed Sept. 11, on Capitol Hill in Washington on Thursday, Dec. 20, 2012. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Sen. John F. Kerry, Massachusetts Democrat and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, leads a hearing on the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, where the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans were killed Sept. 11, on Capitol Hill in Washington on Thursday, Dec. 20, 2012. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Deputy Secretary of State William J. Burns (left) and Thomas R. Nides, deputy secretary of state for management and resources, speak before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee at a hearing on Thursday, Dec. 20, 2012, on the Benghazi attack. (Barbara L. Salisbury/The Washington Times)
William J. Burns, left, deputy secretary of state, and Thomas R. Nides, deputy secretary of state for management and resources, speak before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee at a hearing Thursday, Dec. 20, 2012 on the Benghazi attack. (Barbara L. Salisbury/The Washington Times)
William J. Burns, left, deputy secretary of state, testifies before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee at a hearing Thursday, Dec. 20, 2012 on the Benghazi attack. Burns reiterated that immediately following the attack Secretary of State Hillary Clinton labeled it an "act of terror." (Barbara L. Salisbury/The Washington Times)
