Too much Mr. Nice Guy from House Republican leaders, say critics

Republican defections on key votes, coupled with Democratic victories on the floor earlier this year, have some in the GOP conference worried about the fate of high-profile legislation. House Republican leaders this summer are looking to move a slew of spending bills as well as a package deal to raise the nation's debt ceiling. 

While DeLay's whipping methods attracted a lot of criticism and controversy, he created an expectation that House Republicans would never lose on a tight vote. Winning close votes demoralized Democrats and fostered confidence among House Republicans.

The 2011 whip operation, some contend, needs a harder edge. 

A veteran Republican lawmaker who requested anonymity told The Hill that Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) needs to use more stick, less carrot.

"You can't talk tough to somebody and there be no consequences, so [McCarthy] has to figure out - and people have been talking to him that people need to be made an example of in some way." Some House Republican members have raised similar concerns about Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), who is well-liked and respected. But some have pointed out he is not a disciplinarian and does not like engaging in confrontational conversations. 

Members say that DeLay and former Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) did not shy away from punishing members who broke ranks. 

In 2004, then-Transportation and Treasury Appropriations subcommittee Chairman Ernest Istook (R-Okla.) tried to rescind Amtrak earmarks, sparking a heated fight with then-Rep. John McHugh (R-N.Y.) and other GOP legislators.  Istook's subcommittee was reorganized in the next Congress, stripping him of his gavel and "cardinal" status. 

Other House Republicans who lost their chairmanships in the DeLay era included Rep. Chris Smith (N.J.) and former Rep. Joel Hefley (Colo.).

During now-Sen. Roy Blunt's tenure as House majority whip, Rep. Lynn Westmoreland (R-Ga.) lasted less than one day on the Missouri Republican's deputy whip team.

Blunt fired Westmoreland for breaking the cardinal rule of chosen vote-counters: He defected on a procedural motion. 

While Blunt and DeLay never would publicly accept losing on the floor (in 2003, they famously kept a Medicare vote open for three hours), Boehner's team has said that from time to time, Democrats will triumph. 

Supporters of Boehner contend that the DeLay era is over. Longtime members grew tired of the Texan's tactics, something Boehner witnessed repeatedly as he climbed back up the leadership hierarchy. 

Sources close to Blunt and DeLay explained that the two lawmakers were proactive at heeding the concerns of fence-sitting lawmakers.  For example, Blunt visited at least 100 districts per election cycle in order to get to know his colleagues.  

"The more you know about the member's district, the more you can push back when they tell you this is a vote they can't take," a source close to Blunt said, adding that the Show-Me State lawmaker has relayed that advice to McCarthy's staff.

Blunt told The Hill that McCarthy "is really working hard to be in members' districts and understand the reality that they have to deal with." 

McCarthy has been in constant communication with his conference, meeting with members as well as interacting socially with them, such as playing in games of pickup basketball. 

And the affable McCarthy has at times been stern with members. 

In March, McCarthy challenged Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) during a closed-door conference meeting. After Pence argued against a short-term spending bill that called for billions in spending reductions, McCarthy said he was voting for $6 billion in cuts and Pence wasn't.

 Rep. John Campbell (R-Calif.) earlier this year told The Hill that he was under a lot of pressure from the whip operation to vote for another stopgap measure. Campbell ended up voting no.

A GOP leadership aide said, "Kevin McCarthy's whipping style is inclusive and uses member education as a tool to promote understanding of the legislation coming to the House floor. The vote on the budget is a great example of how effective this approach can be. An educated conference usually leads to a unified conference." Only four Republicans voted against the fiscal 2012 budget plan, a far lower number than most had anticipated.  

McCarthy, who has been whip for less than six months, has some tough acts to follow, as well as some new challenges. The last whip was now-House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.), who served as Blunt's deputy and earned respect in GOP circles by unifying the entire House GOP conference against the Obama administration's stimulus and healthcare reform bills.  

In an interview, DeLay said,  "You've got to know the issue better than the member does ... I just knew them, their district and the issue well enough to debate them and knock down their opposition."

The retired Texas lawmaker, awaiting appeal on a money-laundering conviction, said he doesn't know McCarthy well enough to comment on the Californian's current whip operation. 

DeLay said that quality staff is a key factor in an effective whip team. McCarthy hired DeLay's former chief of staff, Tim Berry, to run his shop. 

"As a leader, and I never did, if you force a member to do something against his district and what he believes, then you won't last as a leader or as a chairman or have any sort of leadership position for very long," DeLay said.  

That being said, a source close to both DeLay and Blunt said the former House members cracked the whip when necessary, with support from their fellow leaders.  

"At some point you just have to make it clear that there's going to be an opening on a committee that you want to be on - I'm going to see that you don't get on it," the source told The Hill.

Former intel officials: Information sharing still not good enough  

Nearly 10 years after the attacks of September 11, 2001, U.S. intelligence agencies are still functioning at below par levels when it comes to sharing information and acting as a seamless anti-terrorism unit, former intelligence officials have told Congress.

The officials, testifying before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee in the wake of this month's killing of Osama bin Laden, said that the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) was imperative to creating the high-functioning intelligence apparatus that spans multiple agencies and pools thousands of sources and analyses of information.

But neither President Obama nor George W. Bush have used the DNI as Congress intended when it created the position in 2004 to act as the overseer of U.S. intelligence gathering agencies in an attempt to prevent the failure in communication that occurred on 9/11, the officials said.

As a result, the U.S. is vulnerable, they said.

"The authority that the Congress intended for the DNI to exercise is not now intact," said Dennis Blair, the former DNI who served under both Obama and George W. Bush. 

"Currently, a portion of it has migrated back to the director of CIA on the one hand, and some to the National Security Council staff on the other hand. The result is a confusion of responsibilities, bureaucratic friction, but more important, potential gaps in intelligence that our adversaries can exploit."

Blair called on Congress to push the White House to rely more heavily and strengthen the role that the DNI plays in providing a center fusion point for all U.S. intelligence.

"The success against Osama bin Laden should not cause us to rest on our oars," said Blair. "We are a long way from an integrated intelligence community smoothly interacting with the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security, with integration being driven by a strong DNI and a competent staff, and I believe congressional action is indispensable to this goal."

Former Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.), who served for eight years on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, said that instead of looking to the DNI to be his principle intelligence advisor, President George W. Bush trusted Vice President Dick Cheney. And President Obama has turned to Deputy National Security Advisor John Brennan, she said.

"Neither president has adequately valued the DNI role, nor has either president made an adequate effort to support the mission," said Harman, who resigned from Congress earlier this year to take over as the head of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.

"This is something that I think Congress and those of us who agree with Congress should push harder on."

Former deputy director of the CIA John Gannon said the DNI may need to have additional authority granted to it, in order to strengthen the position and role to the extent Congress envisioned when it passed the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004.

"Most importantly...the incumbent must have the visible and sustained backing of both the White House and the Congress, and it is questionable whether the DNI has this now," said Gannon. "And this, in my judgment has been a major obstacle to progress. The DNI may need additional authorities."

"I don't believe the DNI has adequate analytic resources to serve him in that critical role."