NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee's U.S. senators have been named the top Republican members of two key committees.

Sen. Bob Corker was named the ranking GOP member on the Foreign Relations Committee, while Sen. Lamar Alexander was elected by his colleagues to the same post on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.

The ranking member works with the Democratic chairman to represent the Republican interests on the panel.

Corker, a former Chattanooga mayor, was elected to his second six-year term in November. Alexander, who was first elected to the Senate in 2002, is a former two-term governor, U.S. education secretary and president of the University of Tennessee.

Republicans hold 45 seats in the 100-member chamber.