Hill Scrum Blues

[Ron Burgundy]

U.S. News & World Report - Americans had ethics on their mind when they took control of Congress away from Republicans. In fact, 41 percent of voters in a post-election survey said corruption and scandals were "extremely important" factors in their vote. And both the winners and the losers promised to heed the message; Republicans said they'd learned their lessons, while Democrats pledged substantive reforms. Steny Hoyer, the current minority whip, followed that lead in a meeting with reporters, as he talked of the Democrats' legislative priorities come January. Yes, the party had called for upping the minimum wage and passing the 9/11 commission recommendations. But last week, Hoyer seemed to have those midterm voters on his mind. "Clearly Iraq was a major reason for their vote," he said. "Corruption was also a very important reason."


That was then. As the week wore on, and both parties turned to the business of electing new leaders, the lofty rhetoric seemed in the view of many to be giving way to the same old thing. In fact, the internal wrangling on Capitol Hill gave more credence to Washington's age-old pursuit of personal politics, strong-arm tactics, and backroom dealing. Congress is a club, after all, and in the light of day, it looked plenty clubby-even if all the members weren't getting along. By week's end, reform-substantive or otherwise-was looking like a mighty tall order.


Misstep. There was, however, enough drama to fill a play of several acts. Democratic Speaker-to-be Nancy Pelosi indelicately stepped into her own party's leadership elections, managing to turn their first week after 12 years out of power into a divisive intraparty brawl. Pelosi put her chips on an old friend, Rep. John Murtha (news, bio, voting record) of Pennsylvania. It was a matter of loyalty, she said, and an attempt to credit Murtha for pushing a new course in Iraq. But her bold initiative bombed, damaging not only her own leadership credentials but the unity of her caucus as well. Murtha lost in a landslide to Hoyer in the race for majority leader. Even Pelosi allowed afterward that it was a "stunning victory" for the 12-term congressman from Maryland.


Murtha, the Vietnam vet who ran Pelosi's own leadership campaign, had helped shift the Iraq debate when he called for troop redeployments this year. But the longtime power player on the Appropriations Committee, who has championed millions of dollars in earmarks, faced mounting questions about his murky ethics record. His leadership candidacy brought back stories of the 26-year-old Abscam bribery scandal, in which Murtha was implicated but never charged. He punctuated the doubts by telling a group of moderates that the lobbying reform bill pushed by Democrats this year was "total crap."


Hoyer has long-established roots within the party and had helped many of the freshman representatives raise money, but watchdog groups aren't wild about his independence, either. Public Citizen ranked Hoyer fifth in the House for receiving money from lobbyists, three spots behind Murtha. "I'm sure that many voters who voted on the issue of corruption were hugely disappointed by the Democrats this week," says Melanie Sloan of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. "That this was the first action out of the box-putting up a guy with serious ethics problems-if I was a voter who had crossed over or was independent and then they did this, I'd be thinking, 'What did I do?'"


A few people gave Pelosi a pass, portraying her stand as more about loyalty and symbolism. Mickey Edwards, a former Republican congressman from Oklahoma, noted that she had long been vocal about how comfortable she was with Murtha but said that "doesn't mean she doesn't care about ethics standards." Democrats argued that the brawl was just an inside-the-beltway kerfuffle. "I don't think anyone will remember [in January]," said Rep. Jerrold Nadler (news, bio, voting record) of New York.


Republicans also stuck to their old ways-even to the extent of bringing back the once-disgraced Sen. Trent Lott (news, bio, voting record) of Mississippi. GOP senators prized his vote-counting and legislative acumen and awarded him their No. 2 spot, minority whip, choosing to forgive his remarks four years ago at a birthday party for Strom Thurmond, where Lott suggested the country would have been better off had the senator who supported segregation won the presidency in 1948.


Reform? Republicans soundly rejected the hard right wing of the party and elected Reps. John Boehner and Roy Blount to the top posts in the House. "Republicans need to ... rededicate ourselves to the reform mind-set that put us in the majority 12 years ago," Boehner said. But some wondered whether Boehner and Blunt had much claim to a reform mantle; critics say both have been cozy with K Street lobbyists. The losers were Reps. Mike Pence of Indiana and John Shadegg of Arizona, who had campaigned on fiscal discipline, fighting earmarks, and reclaiming the principles that led to the party's victory in 1994. Some argue that Pence and Shadegg were too conservative for the moderates and independents who may hold the key to future elections. Taken altogether, "This is like the Republicans staring at the elections and turning up the volume and still hearing nothing," says Tom Schaller, political scientist at the University of Maryland-Baltimore County. "It's just crazy."


So now what? Republican leaders say they might try to slow down the Democrats' fast-track legislative agenda. Among the GOP options: Refuse to take up key legislation, including appropriations bills, in the current lame duck session, which would saddle Democrats with tough dollars-and-cents choices early next year. Or Republicans could make the unlikely move of passing a minimum wage bill of their own, in an attempt to make an end-run around one of the Democrats' chief legislative goals.


For Democrats, the next test is whom Pelosi picks to lead the influential intelligence committee. She has said she might skip over Rep. Jane Harman (news, bio, voting record), the next in line for the post, and consider Rep. Alcee Hastings (news, bio, voting record), a former federal judge who was acquitted by a jury but impeached by the House and convicted by the Senate for conspiring to take $150,000 in bribes in a case he heard on the bench. Pelosi's pick may determine how willing rank-and-file Democrats are to follow her cue. And then there will be the most important issue of all-the war in Iraq-when all eyes will be on who takes up the mantle of change for the Democrats. Pelosi may still want Murtha to carry the Democrats' ball on Iraq, even in light of his loss last week. "He is the face of redeployment, and I think he'll continue to be," said Rep. Kendrick Meek (news, bio, voting record) of Florida. Whether that's good for the Democrats remains to be seen.