By Amanda Terkel for Huffington Post – Women comprise more than half of the population of the United States. Yet Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) will be the only woman sitting on the new, powerful “super Congress,” a 12-member committee responsible for coming up with a plan to cut at least $1.5 trillion from the federal budget by Thanksgiving.

“I think half the members of the committee should be women. I believe that people whose lives will be impacted by decisions have a right to have their voices heard in those decisions,” said National Organization for Women President Terry O’Neill.

It’s true that Congress doesn’t accurately reflect the gender breakdown of the country either; female lawmakers make up a combined 16.8 percent of the House of Representatives and the Senate. But even that number is high when compared to the super committee, where women will comprise just 8.3 percent of the total.

“I am pleased to see that the Super Committee reflects a wide array of ideological perspectives and the representatives are from diverse regions of the country,” said Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), who has been a vocal advocate for the inclusion of women’s voices in the budget negotiations, in a statement to The Huffington Post. “It would have been great to see more women represented, as we’re more than half the population, but I am very happy to see Senator Murray as a co-chair.”

“Senator Murray would always like to see more women at the table, but as the only woman on this committee she will certainly be going to bat for the needs of women, working families, and all those who are depending on a balanced solution to this problem,” assured Murray spokesman Matt McAlvanah. 

To read Amanda Terkel’s article, click here.

Latest News on Super Committee’s Work: 

Washington (CNN) — Members of the “super committee” charged with coming up with $1.2 trillion in budget cuts are focused on how to announce failure to reach a deal, Democratic and Republican aides confirmed to CNN Sunday.

While aides said no final decision had been made, they acknowledged that — barring an unforeseen development — an announcement of an end to negotiations is the most likely scenario.

Talks on trying to reach a deficit reduction agreement are essentially over and discussions are focused on a Monday announcement, a senior Democratic aide said.

Another senior Democratic source said, “No decisions or agreement has been reached concerning any announcement or how this will end. But, yes, the likely outcome is no agreement will be reached.” A Republican aide said, “I don’t think they’ve decided when they will do it.”

Members of the 12-member bipartisan debt committee said Sunday a wide chasm remains.

A late Monday deadline looms for some kind of plan to move forward, with a vote required by Wednesday.

The mood on the morning news shows was somber, with just a glimmer of hope.

“I’m going to be waiting all day,” Washington Sen. Patty Murray, Democratic co-chair of the committee told CNN’s Candy Crowley on “State of the Union.”

“I’ll be at the table, as I’ve been, willing to talk to any Republican who says, look, my country is more important, this pile of bills is not going to go away, the challenges that we have is not going to disappear, we need to cross that divide,” said Murray.

Her Republican counterpart, Rep. Jeb Hensarling of Texas, said “nobody wants to give up hope.”

Click here to read the CNN article.