Articles
Roll Call: Jefferson Indictment Aside, Speaker Pelosi Has Been on a Roll
06/06/2007
By Norman
Ornstein
First, a
few words on Rep. William Jefferson’s (D-La.) indictment. The long delay before
the indictment was almost certainly shaped by the ill-advised, rash and
blundering raid by the Justice Department and FBI on
The
aftermath of that raid was then-Speaker Dennis Hastert’s (R-Ill.) finest
moment, when he stood up for the House and the Constitution. It was another in
a series of low moments for Attorney General Alberto Gonzales: He allegedly
threatened to resign unless the White House supported the raid — the only case
for which he was ready to step down.
Minority
Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) reacted to the indictment by raising the prospect
of an expulsion vote. This is wrong-headed, of course — as the
Boehner,
who as I recall neither called for the expulsion of then-Rep. Tom DeLay
(R-Texas) when he was indicted nor spoke out against the move by his colleagues
to let DeLay keep his leadership post, should think about the precedents here.
And he should think about them pretty quickly, since it is very likely that
more indictments will be coming as the public corruption investigation rolls
on.
On to the
good news. The House had an interesting week before it left for Memorial Day.
What looked like an embarrassing setback on ethics and lobbying reform turned
into an impressive victory for reform — not perfect, by a long shot, but
meaningful and serious reform nonetheless. The continuing confrontation over
funding for
All that
made it, in my view, a good week for Congress, a sign of progress in key areas
and some reason for hope. And it gives me reason to write a paean to Speaker
Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).
The
lobbying reform was tough. Its journey was tortuous. It is a sad reality that
if the reform package had been decided in a secret ballot vote, it would have
gone down. Way too many Members do not want to discomfit their lives with
embarrassing inconveniences such as disclosure of fundraising connections or to
dilute or delay any future gravy train for post-Congress employment in the
lobbying world — a world where half of all retiring Members of Congress now go.
I suppose I could now praise the Blue Dogs, Congressional Black Caucus members
and others who were open about their objections to the bundling disclosure
provision or the revolving-door extension — but their candor, refreshing though
it may be, is more than canceled out by their ethical insensitivity.
The
ethical insensitivity extends to members of both parties. This time it was
particularly glaring among Democrats. The public reaction against the “culture
of corruption” was a major catalyst for the sweeping Democratic victory in
November. Democrats ran against it and capitalized on it. To reject real reform
now would have been a monumental embarrassment, one that would not go away,
creating a major loss of legitimacy for the majority among opinion leaders and
setting it up for even bigger problems when more scandals hit — as they
inevitably will.
Pelosi
understood this, saw passage of real reform as a solemn pledge — and went
all-out to make it happen. She had great lieutenants in Democratic Caucus
Chairman Rahm Emanuel (
The
Republicans improved the bill significantly with their very constructive motion
to recommit, and then they went out and crowed about their victory. It was a
victory, but one that took place only because the Speaker has let motions to
recommit with instructions be meaningful — to allow most of them to have a
chance to succeed with the necessary bipartisan support. Thanks in large part to
the clever strategy and savvy approach Boehner, Minority Whip Roy Blunt
(R-Mo.), Rules ranking member David Dreier (R-Calif.) and other leaders have
employed, the House Republicans have won on 13 of them so far — which is, oh,
about 13 more than the minority Democrats achieved during the comparable period
in the 109th.
This is
not because the Republican motions were good and the Democratic ones were not.
As I have noted in the past, the motion to recommit with instructions was a
pure sham during the GOP reign — every motion was cast as a party vote and
whipped by the majority leadership to prevent it from passing. With some
notable exceptions, that subterfuge is gone.
The vote
on
Second,
and more important, the Speaker saw the only way to get this issue off the
table was to build a majority for the bill from the center out. She lost a lot
of anti-war Democrats — including herself! — but got more than enough
Republicans to succeed; actually twice as many Republicans as Democrats. It was
a notable example of trying to govern by using the whole House, not the
majority of the majority as Speaker Hastert made his tenet. Pelosi genuinely
believes a Speaker should govern as Speaker of the whole House, and that many
issues can, and do, cut across party lines.
She is
right.
Boehner,
a tough partisan infighter like Pelosi, also has a different leadership style
than his predecessor and worked very well for years with Rep. George Miller
(D-Calif.) on education and other domestic issues. Under his leadership,
Republicans who want to play a role in policy have been free to do so while
working with majority Members, and in many cases they are finding willing
partners. Even as the partisan atmosphere in Congress continues to be
rancorous, many committees are finding the dynamic is radically different than
it was in the previous Congress. On Ways and Means, the friendship and
partnership between Rangel and his GOP counterpart, Rep. Jim McCrery (
We have a
long way to go before Congress is truly functional. There are still major gaps
in procedure and no semblance yet of a consistent regular order. The minority
has a larger role, but not yet an appropriately robust role. The biggest test
on ethics lies ahead with the potential creation of a meaningful investigative
and enforcement mechanism in the House. But there are some signs at least of
better times ahead for those who love Congress. And signs that Nancy Pelosi
could be an exceptional Speaker.