Congressional Climate

Table of Contents

OBAMA BONDS WITH HOYER, PELOSI THROWN ASIDE?

VACANCY IN THE SEN. FINANCE COMMITTEE

ENSIGN RESIGNATION TIMING IN QUESTION

Congressional
Climate Bill Tracking

H.R.658 - FAA Reauthorization and Reform Act of 2011

H.R.164 - Damaged Vehicle Information Act

H.R.514 - FISA Sunsets Extension Act of 2011

H.R.1 - Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2011

H.R.4 - Small Business Paperwork Mandate Elimination Act of 2011

H.R.96 - Internet Freedom Act

H.R.605 - Patients' Freedom to Choose Act

S.244 - State Health Care Choice Act

Video Of The Day

Giffords Standing on Own, Trying to Improve Gait

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THE SENATE:

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SENATE COMMITTEES:

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THE HOUSE:

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HOUSE COMMITTEES:

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Obama-Hoyer bond forms as Pelosi rejects budget deal

This year's budget battles have forged a loose bond between President Obama and Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) while revealing some distance between the White House and Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).

The informal alliance has propelled the minority whip into the spotlight of the spending debate, bolstered his reputation as a centrist dealmaker and even led some Democrats to suggest he should lead the caucus in the looming talks over raising the nation's debt limit.

Hoyer's emergence is partly by political chance. With Republicans controlling the House, Obama and Senate Democrats have been forced to the right.

At the same time, however, GOP leaders in the lower chamber have struggled to rally enough votes to pass legislation, making them reliant on Democrats. The unusual dynamics cater well to Hoyer, a fiscal centrist known for his working relationships with Blue Dogs and GOP leaders.

"If you're going to have anything done in the House [that's] bipartisan, Steny Hoyer is going to have to be involved," said a House Democratic aide who works for a Blue Dog.

Hoyer, who has taken a backseat to Pelosi for a decade, has been quick to seize the opportunity.

On the morning of the final vote on the fiscal 2011 continuing resolution (CR), House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) called the Maryland Democrat requesting help to get the bill over the finish line. Shortly afterward, Hoyer tweeted that he planned to support the measure.

The Democrats' support proved necessary, as only 179 Republicans voted for the bill - well shy of the 218 needed.

Pelosi, meanwhile, voted no, pointing out she felt "no ownership" of the deal Obama struck with Senate Democrats and Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio).

The California Democrat, who also rejected stopgap spending measures that Obama backed, suggested she would have voted for the final deal if her support was needed. But Pelosi also made clear she knew Republicans had the votes, with the help of 81 of 189 voting Democrats.

In January, 19 House Democrats did not vote for Pelosi for Speaker as all Republicans supported Boehner. A 20th Democrat who has been critical of Pelosi, Rep. Peter DeFazio (Ore.), skipped the vote. All of those members - minus Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.), who is recovering from a gunshot wound - voted with Hoyer in favor of the 2011 spending bill.

If Pelosi made a point to oppose the spending cuts to draw a distinction between the parties, Hoyer took pains to cast himself as the pragmatist who would make concessions for the sake of a deal. He also recently called a past vote against raising the debt limit a "mistake," echoing a statement made by Obama just days earlier.

It's not just the spending debate where Obama's centrist shift is now melding with Hoyer's legislative leanings. Hoyer traveled this week to Colombia, where he endorsed an imminent trade deal historically opposed by liberals, including Pelosi.

"Colombia is a critical ally to the United States, and I strongly believe it is in our economic and national security interests to strengthen our ties by moving the agreement forward," Hoyer said in a statement.

Julian Zelizer, political scientist at Princeton University, noted the "constant battle" between the liberal lawmakers who constitute the Democrats' base and the centrist Blue Dogs who helped the party win control of the House in 2006. In the current political environment, he added, it's the latter's fiscal policies that are winning out - even in the face of Pelosi's opposition.

"While making many deals with the Blue Dogs, Pelosi always kept coming back to core ideas of liberalism and insisted on that framework as negotiations took place," Zelizer said. "But the balance seems to be shifting."

Some Blue Dogs say Hoyer's role during the CR debate should earn him a seat at the table as the talks move forward on the debt ceiling and the fiscal 2012 budget.

"I think Steny's hand is very much strengthened by this process and he should be brought into the negotiations in the future," Rep. Dennis Cardoza (D-Calif.) toldRoll Call this month.

Some Republicans also see Hoyer as the more flexible negotiator.

"Hoyer is a far more serious legislator and negotiator than former Speaker Pelosi," said a GOP leadership aide.

Hoyer enjoys good relationships with Boehner and McCarthy, as well as with many rank-and-file Republicans.

In a 2009 survey conducted by The Hill, Republican lawmakers cited Hoyer as one of the most bipartisan members in Congress.

Unlike many of his Democratic colleagues, Hoyer has said he is open to raising the retirement age for Social Security.

Hoyer is trying to get out in front on the debt-ceiling debate, orchestrating a recent meeting between Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and Democratic deputy whips. Pelosi was not a part of the gathering.

After the 2010 election, many political analysts expected that Pelosi would step down and Hoyer would take over as the House's top Democrat. But Pelosi stayed on, and Hoyer abided by a promise he made never to run against her again after their bitter 2001 leadership race.

Since Pelosi won that contest, Hoyer has been careful to defer to the Californian. At times, their relationship in the minority between 2001 and 2006 was strained as their staffs battled behind the scenes. While in the majority, however, there was rarely any daylight between the two leaders.

Most say the Pelosi-Hoyer relationship is strong, but the politics of the 112th Congress have given Hoyer more freedom and increased his political stock.

Pelosi's office rejects the notion that House Democratic leadership dynamics have shifted since the start of the Congress. It also notes that a majority of the caucus sided with Pelosi during the CR fight, a vote that was not whipped by Democratic leaders.

Furthermore, Pelosi recently named Reps. James Clyburn (S.C.) and Chris Van Hollen (Md.) to the bipartisan deficit-reduction group being led by Vice President Biden. Clyburn voted against the 2011 spending bill and Van Hollen supported it.

Looking ahead to the broader budget battles, Pelosi spokesman Nadeam Elshami said the Democrats will be united behind Obama's vision, particularly as the president has adamantly opposed the Republicans' proposal to revamp the Medicare program.

"There's no separation there," Elshami said.

Hoyer, for his part, already appears to be eyeing ways to cut a deal. "There are deep differences between the two parties, but we have to find common ground," Hoyer said Wednesday in an email, "and I will continue to articulate ideas on how to achieve that."

McConnell faces tough choice on open Finance Committee spot

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has a tough decision over whom to appoint for the newly open slot on one of the Senate's most powerful committee.

A Republican spot on the Senate Finance Committee, which has jurisdiction over taxes, Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, opened Thursday when Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) announced his resignation. The resignation becomes effective on May 3.

McConnell could pay heed to seniority rankings and appoint Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), a leader of the Tea Party movement and prominent conservative.

Or he could pick Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), a well-liked member of the Senate Republican conference who is respected for his pragmatic approach to solving policy problems.

A third member in the mix, who has more seniority than DeMint and Isakson, is Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.). But Burr, a close friend of House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), appeared to take his hat out of the ring on Friday.

Burr's spokeswoman said that her boss is not interested in switching committees.

"Senator Burr has no interest in changing his committee assignments," said Samantha Smith, Burr's press secretary.

The Senate Republican conference has traditionally hewed to seniority rankings when choosing committee chairmanships, ranking memberships and panel assignments.

DeMint and Isakson were both elected to the Senate in 2004, but DeMint has a slight edge in seniority because he served longer in the House.

He won election to the lower chamber in 1998 after former Rep. Bob Inglis (R-S.C.) ran unsuccessfully for Senate. Isakson didn't win election to Congress until February 1999 when he won a six-way race to fill the remainder of former House Speaker Newt Gingrich's (R-Ga.) term.

But DeMint has been a subtle rival of McConnell's in recent years, challenging his leader on earmarks, to cite just one example.

His status in the Senate has risen thanks to his financial backing of several members of the freshman class. DeMint is also a founding member of the Senate Tea Party Caucus and seen as one of the populist movement's leaders in Congress.

That may prompt McConnell to consider DeMint more closely for the open position.

McConnell is returning from a congressional delegation trip to Afghanistan and has not begun to consider who will replace Ensign, according to a spokesman.

"He hasn't even started to consider it," said Don Stewart, McConnell's aide.

Some GOP aides think the antagonisms between McConnell DeMint are too sharp for the GOP leader to reward him with such a plum position.

Conservative activists, however, would applaud the decision. They would relish an uncompromising conservative on the committee, who would press his ranking member and colleagues to stick to their conservative principles.

RedState.com, a conservative blog, has in the past urged its readers to lobby McConnell to name DeMint to Finance.

But the Senate Republican leader has not been afraid of usurping the pecking order of seniority rankings when making assignments to the Finance Committee.

In January of 2008, McConnell picked former Sen. John Sununu (R-N.H.), who faced a tough re-election battle that year (and lost), over Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), who had more seniority.

That choice was not without fallout.

"I'm pissed," Enzi told The Hill after learning he was passed over.

Enzi, who now sits on Finance, was also passed for the committee in 2007. McConnell rewarded Ensign for chairing the National Republican Senatorial Committee by naming him to Finance in July of 2007, after the death of Sen. Craig Thomas (R-Wyo.).

Isakson was widely rumored to be in line for a seat on Finance when Republicans had two seats to fill after the 2010 mid-term election. He lost out, however, to Sens. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) and John Thune (R-S.D.), who outrank him in seniority by virtue of serving longer terms in the House.

Timing of Sen. Ensign resignation raises questions

The resignation this week by U.S. Sen. John Ensign raised questions about what an ongoing Senate ethics probe has uncovered, while also muddling the field of candidates for congressional seats now held by the GOP headed into a key election year.

The decision to step down marked an unexpected change of heart for the Nevada Republican who as recently as last month said he would remain in office until his planned retirement from politics because he had not violated ethics rules.

"If I was concerned about that, I would have resigned, because that would make the most sense, because then it goes away," Ensign said then as he announced he would retire after 2012.

It's not immediately clear what, if anything, has changed since he made those remarks. An ethics committee official said Friday that neither a vote nor a public hearing had been scheduled in the Ensign investigation prior to his announcement.

Leaders of the Senate Ethics Committee noted tersely that Ensign made the proper decision in turning in a letter of resignation amid their unfinished two-year probe of his conduct.

Ensign, 53, cited "wear and tear" on himself and his family in his announcement Thursday, which came nearly two years after he acknowledged having had an extramarital affair with a former staffer. The ethics probe has explored Ensign's handling of the affair and whether he tried to illegally cover it up.

Ensign's exit protects him from future disciplinary action and questioning. The committee cannot penalize Ensign once he is no longer a senator, and, with the Senate in recess, it is unlikely that the committee will be able to do so before Ensign's May 3 resignation.

But Ensign is not entirely in the clear. It is likely the committee will move forward on the months-long investigation by issuing an embarrassing statement regarding the propriety of Ensign's behavior and the panel could even go so far as to recommend a criminal investigation. It would by a damning, but mostly symbolic, gesture because committee members do not have authority over federal investigators.

Ensign's looming departure also casts a new sense of urgency over Nevada's closely watched Senate race to replace him. After he announced last month that he would not seek re-election, Democrats hoped to claim the seat to protect their fragile Senate majority.

In the meantime, Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval will appoint a successor to serve the remainder of the term through 2012. Sandoval had endorsed Republican Rep. Dean Heller of northern Nevada in the race and is widely expected to name him the incumbent, affording Heller an advantage over Rep. Shelley Berkley, the Democrat's favored candidate.

A Heller appointment to the Senate would require an unprecedented special congressional election in Nevada.

Because of a quirk of Nevada politics, state leaders are uncertain about how to carry out the never-enforced special election law, which does not allow for a primary. Their decision could decide the political fate of tea party favorite and perennial candidate Sharron Angle, who has been running for Heller's seat and could be closed out of the race if party leaders are allowed to pick their general election contestants.

Several national and state Republican leaders have said they hope Sandoval will appoint Heller to Ensign's seat.

Sandoval declined to discuss his selection process Friday, but said he would name a successor while Ensign was still in office.

Berkley and Heller had been evenly matched, with their comparable political credentials and name recognition in Nevada. Wealthy businessman Byron Georgiou is also seeking the Democratic nomination.

Ensign insisted Thursday he has done nothing wrong. But he said he was shaken by the Senate Ethics Committee decision in February to name a special counsel to look into the matter, after the Justice Department and the Federal Election Commission investigated and then dropped their cases.

"I was hopeful that, with the closure of these investigations against me, the wear and tear on my family and me would soon be over. This was not the case," he said.

Still, the timing of Ensign's announcement remains an enigma given his persistent insistence that he would not give up his seat.

Long after party leaders revoked their support for him, Ensign continued to say he would campaign for a third term until the abrupt announcement in March that he would sit the election out.

Federal campaign reports showed his fundraising efforts had languished. Ensign, however, cited his desire to protect his family from campaign attacks involving the extramarital affair and said the Senate investigation hadn't influenced his decision.

The panel's chairman, Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and the vice chairman, Johnny Isakson, R-Georgia, issued a terse statement Thursday saying the committee had spent 22 months investigating "and will complete its work in a timely fashion."

"Senator Ensign has made the appropriate decision," the statement said.

Ensign announced in June 2009 that he had an extramarital affair with Cynthia Hampton, a former member of his campaign staff. Amid the scandal, his parents provided the Hamptons with $96,000, described as a gift, and Ensign helped find Doug Hampton, the husband, a lobbying job.

Doug Hampton has been indicted for illegally lobbying the senator's staff. Federal law prohibits a former senior Senate aide from lobbying the Senate for one year after terminating employment.

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