CQ TODAY PRINT EDITION
Jan. 5, 2009 – 7:24 p.m.
Liberals Relish New Clout as Session Starts
By Alan K. Ota, CQ Staff
The Democratic Party’s liberal wing will begin a hard push this week to consolidate power in the House and advance its agenda with a quiet assist from a longtime champion, Speaker Nancy Pelosi .
Leaders of the Democrats’ liberal faction, such as House Appropriations Chairman David R. Obey of Wisconsin, scored an early victory when Pelosi agreed to a change in House rules that will solidify their clout.
Obey and several other liberal chairmen of powerful committees are among the biggest beneficiaries from the Democratic Caucus’ decision to omit the three-term limit on committee chairmen that dates to the Republican takeover of Congress after the 1994 election.
The caucus reviewed Monday night this and other changes that are part of the rules package the full chamber will adopt Tuesday to govern its internal operations in the 111th Congress.
The rule change comes on the heels of the caucus’ highly unusual decision to oust a sitting “old bull” chairman in favor of a younger — and much more liberal — upstart. John D. Dingell of Michigan was removed as chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and replaced by Henry A. Waxman of California.
Dingell is a moderate who has looked out for the interests of his home state auto industry, which has led him to oppose strong measures to combat global warming favored by many other Democrats.
Liberal Democrats begin the new session at a high-water mark in the House. Democratic aides say liberals account for more than half of the party’s 257 seats and will wield gavels on nearly two-thirds of the 21 full committees.
After years of frustration, liberals say they hope to seize momentum from the election and move long-delayed measures with the help of President-elect Barack Obama .
“It’s going to be a progressive Congress. There’s no doubt about that. It’s been a long time coming,’’ said Obey, whose office resembles a shrine to the glory days of progressivism, including a photo of Sen. Robert M. LaFollette of Wisconsin (1906-1925), the hero of progressives.
Pent Up Demand
Pelosi, of San Francisco, faces heavy pressure from liberals who believe their concerns took a back seat in the 110th Congress, when Republicans and moderate Democrats often dictated the terms on issues including the Iraq War and the electronic surveillance overhaul (PL 110‑261).
Rep. Barbara Lee , Pelosi’s partner from across the bay in Oakland and the incoming chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus, said liberal leaders in the House plan to step up efforts to urge party leaders and the Obama administration to push such big liberal ideas as Obama’s plan for a mandate for child health care coverage.
“It’s an inside-outside strategy. Different caucuses will be working together on common interests on Capitol Hill. And President-elect Obama must continue his strong field operation to keep people engaged across the country,” Lee said.
“We absolutely are at a historic moment now. And we are going to move big things,’’ said Rep. Lynn Woolsey , another San Francisco Bay Area liberal who co-chairs the Congressional Progressive Caucus.
Lee and Woolsey are working to unify liberals on Capitol Hill to keep the heat on colleagues and on Obama to take action on other priorities, including funding education, addressing income inequality and improving health care for poor families.
While Obama laid out a broad liberal agenda during his campaign that includes the withdrawal of troops from Iraq, a child health care mandate and an immigration overhaul, the progressives fear he will delay some of those priorities or resort to former President Bill Clinton’s tactic of “triangulation,” by cutting deals to appease Republicans and centrists.
The liberals’ optimism also reflects their growing clout on Pelosi’s leadership team. Xavier Becerra , a Pelosi lieutenant from the Los Angeles area, will serve as the House Democratic Caucus’ new vice chairman.
The Congressional Progressive Caucus, with a projected membership of more than 80 — 75 current members and an expected small batch of freshman recruits — has pushed for a $1 trillion economic recovery package that includes a refundable child tax credit and worker training funds.
The liberals say they can also count on support from some House Democrats who aren’t part of the Progressive Caucus.
Senate Prospects
Liberals are also expanding their organizing efforts in the Senate. Bernard Sanders , the Vermont independent who is the lone senator in the Progressive Caucus, hopes to recruit new members, including Tom Udall of New Mexico and Jeff Merkley of Oregon.
Such other liberal stalwarts as Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Chairman Edward M. Kennedy , D-Mass., and Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin , D-Ill., hold key positions.
But many of the liberals’ priorities could face filibusters in the Senate, where Republicans will have at least 41 seats, more than enough to prevail in cloture votes.
Longtime political observer G. Calvin Mackenzie, a professor of government at Colby College, says the liberal revival in the 111th Congress resembles the 1960s, when Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson worked around their party’s southern, conservative wing to move liberal priorities with help from such upstart liberals as Sen. Eugene J. of Minnesota (1959-1971), a founder of the now-defunct liberal caucus known as the Democratic Study Group.
Mackenzie said the fate of liberal initiatives will likely depend on the success of public lobbying campaigns by Obama and his allies.
“Unlike Kennedy and Johnson, they cannot count on much help from Republicans. It’s not going to be an easy nut to crack,” said Mackenzie, who is co-author of a book on the Kennedy-Johnson years, “The Liberal Hour.”
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