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Editorial: Potent Coburn
The Hill
May 3, 2006
When Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) ran for the upper chamber in 2004, it was as a maverick rather than establishment GOP candidate. He won anyway.
Former Rep. Brad Carson (D-Okla.) significantly outraised him in the general election, but Coburn triumphed easily.
Before his return to Washington, most expected Coburn to be a lonely voice in the Senate, sure to raise trouble but unlikely to affect policy.
Once again, Coburn is defying expectations.
Coburn, a former House rebel who infuriated his leadership, has quickly adapted to the Senate. He made some mistakes early on, including his suggestion that anyone in the Senate who has reached retirement age but is still serving cannot have much of a life. After The Hill reported his comments, Coburn swiftly apologized to his colleagues.
Despite that short-lived flap, Coburn has shown he knows how to play the Senate game. He has partnered with Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Barack Obama (D-Ill.), two of the chamber’s most potent lawmakers, on lobbying and earmark reform.
Coburn has also teamed up with others to cut spending on the emergency war-funding bill, a measure that few would dare to touch in previous years.
The freshman senator and McCain led a successful effort last week to strip a $15 million seafood-promotion provision out of that bill in a vote that shocked some observers. Clearly, Coburn is affecting policy in the Senate, and in the process putting his colleagues on notice that he is closely tracking their earmarks.
Coburn has made some friends, but not many. Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) was furious when Coburn made a move last year to strip funding for the “Bridge to Nowhere” to fund the government’s response to Hurricane Katrina. But Stevens, a former Appropriations Committee chairman, acknowledged last week that Coburn and the spending hawks “are making their point, slowly but surely.”
President Bush has indicated his support for limiting government spending, but his claims will not be taken seriously until he actually vetoes a bloated appropriations bill. Still, the rhetoric from the White House has helped, Coburn said.
Senate leaders have opted to side with Coburn. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), in an unusual move, lobbied the White House to issue its veto threat on the war-funding bill unless its price tag was kept under control.
Coburn’s maneuver last year to strike the Bridge to Nowhere only collected 15 votes. But since then, more have gotten on Coburn’s bandwagon as the volume of complaints from constituents about government spending and specifically the explosion of earmarks has increased.
Many have underestimated Coburn throughout his career, but he has shown during his brief tenure in the Senate that he is a potent force.
Senator Tom Coburn
Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information, and International Security
340 Dirksen Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510
Phone: 202-224-2254 Fax: 202-228-3796
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