Perhaps lost in the sequestermania that has consumed Congress in recent weeks was a piece of news out of Capitol Hill that could bode well for New Hampshire.

Late last month, it was announced that New Hampshire’s two senators had been named to key subcommittee posts within the Senate Armed Services Committee on which they serve.

Democrat Jeanne Shaheen is the new chairman of the Subcommittee on Readiness and Management Support, while Republican Kelly Ayotte will retain her position as the ranking member on that same panel.

Why is this a coup for New Hampshire?

Because among the things under this subcommittee’s jurisdiction – military readiness, construction, contracting and acquisition, financial management, industrial operations, etc. – is this one: base realignment and closure.

In other words, if the Pentagon chooses to recommend any base closures this year – and there are reports that it will – this is the panel that’s charged with reviewing them and making a recommendation.

And that could be of particular importance to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, since it was among the installations recommended for closure by the Pentagon to the Base Realignment and Closure Commission in 2005, the most recent year of base closings and realignments to be implemented by the federal government.

Ultimately, the shipyard was one of five major installations recommended for closure that were rejected by the commission, along with Naval Submarine Base New London in Groton, Conn. All told, 164 of the Department of Defense’s 190 recommendations for closure or realignment were either accepted in their entirety or with amendments.

Since the BRAC process was authorized by Congress and signed into law by President Ronald Reagan in 1988, more than 350 military installations have been closed in five separate rounds: 1989, 1991, 1993, 1995 and 2005.

Last summer, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta abandoned plans for a new round of base closures called for in his fiscal 2013 budget, in part because of strong opposition in Congress and a lackluster economy.

But last week, Politico reported that Defense Department officials are planning to seek two new rounds of base closures in 2015 and 2017 as part of their next budget proposal – a process that new Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told lawmakers he was open to during his contentious confirmation process last month.

Needless to say, the closing of the Kittery, Maine-based shipyard, one of only four remaining naval shipyards in the country, would deal a severe blow to the region’s economy.

The shipyard, whose primary mission is to overhaul and modernize the Navy’s nuclear-powered submarine fleet, employs roughly 4,700 civilians. An economic impact study conducted in 2012 found that payroll, the purchase of goods and services, and government contracts totaled more than $560 million in 2011.

To be clear, we’re not suggesting that U.S. military installations in the 50 states and abroad should be exempt from periodic review, especially in an era of trillion-dollar budget deficits and national debt.

All we’re saying is that it’s comforting to know that Shaheen and Ayotte’s high-ranking posts on this key subcommittee should ensure that the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard gets a fair shake in any future talks about its scaling back or closure.