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Health Care Debate Illustrates Deep Divide Between House, Senate

Nov. 17, 12 a.m.

I am often asked by foreign visitors to explain the differences between the House and Senate. My first reaction is to offer up a “night and day” comparison, but that would put them in the same galaxy and time zone. A more accurate analogy would be that the House and the Senate are as different as light and molasses, for they truly do operate at different speeds and in different universes. They’re not even parallel universes because quite often they’re working at cross purposes (is there such a thing as perpendicular universes?).

Will Congress Really Pay for Pending Health Care Plan?

Nov. 3, 12 a.m.

When physical health system changes collide with fiscal health cost concerns, red ink is spilt. That’s the mess Congress must face in meeting the president’s health care reform standard of not adding one dime to the deficit. The cleanup effort will not end with enactment, but will take decades.

Policy Czars Fuel White House Power Surge

Oct. 20, 12 a.m.

A Canadian ambassador to the U.S. told a National Press Club audience upon his departure that he had finally “cracked the code” to Washington after two years. “There is not one national government,” he observed, “but two: the Congress and the executive.”

Members of Congress Catch 72-Hour Bug From Constituents

Oct. 6, 12 a.m.

Congress has caught the 72-hour bug. It’s not a new strain of flu but an infectious form of transparentitis that’s sweeping the nation. And Members are catching it from their constituents.

High Theater Rules at Joint Sessions of Congress

Sept. 22, 12 a.m.

President Barack Obama’s Sept. 9 health care speech before a joint session of Congress focused more than usual attention on the curious spectacle of two sitting legislative bodies — not talking, not legislating, just sitting (most of the time).

Health Care Reform Challenge Appears More Jagged Up Close

Sept. 8, 12 a.m.

‘The mountains ... at a distance appear airy masses and smooth,” observed the Greek philosopher Pyrrho, “but when beheld close they are rough.” The same is true of Congress’ attempt to fashion health care reform legislation.

2009 PAYGO Bill Finds Itself on Shaky Constitutional Footing

Aug. 4, 12 a.m.

When the House of Representatives debated the statutory pay-as-you-go bill July 22, no one questioned its constitutionality. Yet for those who labored on the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985, only to have it overturned by the Supreme Court a few months later, there are eerie echoes of GRH in PAYGO.

Political Fights Over High Court Nominees Are Nothing New

July 21, 12 a.m.

Last week’s political skirmishing during hearings on the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court evinces different reactions. Some think making presidential nominees political targets is undignified, disrespectful and unbecoming of “the world’s greatest deliberative body.” Others think nominees are fair game for any pernicious projectile that might stick and that it’s always open season.

Climate Change Bill Wins on Political Energy Boost

July 7, 12 a.m.

If you remember anything from your high school physics class, you may recall the first law of thermodynamics: Energy is conserved; it is neither created nor destroyed, but can be changed from one form to another. That basic law came to mind recently when I was considering the climate change/clean energy bill that passed the House two weeks ago.

Appropriations Bills Face New Twists and Old Realities

June 23, 12 a.m.

This year’s appropriations process resembles our new approach to Russia: a “reset” button has been pushed, no one knows exactly where it will take us, but everyone hopes for the best.

There’s a Better Way to Handle the Torture Controversy

June 9, 12 a.m.

Shortly after Republicans took control of Congress in 1995, the new House Majority Leader, then-Rep. Dick Armey (Texas), was asked by reporters whether it was “payback time.” Were Republicans going to take revenge on the Democrats for all the abuses that they had heaped on the GOP minority over the previous 40 years?

House Leaders Throw Blue Dogs a PAYGO Bone

May 26, 12 a.m.

When press reports on the morning of April 24 indicated that House and Senate Democratic leaders and top White House staff had reached tentative agreement on a budget conference report the previous evening, it was clear a legislative juggernaut was under way.

Congress’ Penchant for Delegation Can Be a Sin of Commission

May 12, 12 a.m.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) told the Commonwealth Club of California in April that she favored creating a national commission to inquire into the 2008 Wall Street collapse to determine what happened and “to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

Budget Resolution Helps Define Lines Between Branches

April 28, 12 a.m.

A few years ago, the departing Canadian ambassador to the United States, Frank McKenna, told a National Press Club audience that, after spending two years here, he had finally cracked the code to how Washington works: “There is not one U.S. government,” he said, “there are two — the executive and the legislative.”

Omnibus Public Lands Bill Completes Long, Winding Journey

April 13, 12 a.m.

The saga of the omnibus public lands bill that President Barack Obama signed into law in late March has been compared by at least one Congress watcher to a long and slow-moving wagon train. On the day that it finally cleared the House, Natural Resources Chairman Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.) told his colleagues that “the road leading us here today has been a long one and it has contained a few twists and turns along the way.”

Democrats’ Call for Regular Order Signals Problems for Leaders

March 30, 12 a.m.

When House Republicans complain that Democratic leaders are trampling all over “the regular order,” they are usually dismissed as a tedious whine party. But when majority Democrats call on their own leadership to return to the regular order, you know that something is seriously amiss. And that’s exactly what’s been happening in this Congress.

Gun Amendment: Poison Pill or Silver Bullet?

March 16, 12 a.m.

Senate passage of a gun-rights amendment to legislation giving the District of Columbia voting representation in the House of Representatives prompted House Democratic leaders to pull the bill two weeks ago. Some news accounts called the gun amendment a “poison pill amendment,” but was it really?

Fiscal Oversight Directive a Welcome Breath of Spring Air

March 2, 12 a.m.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has directed all House committee chairmen to submit to her by March 13 timetables for oversight hearings into how federal departments and agencies under their jurisdiction are spending money. Her initiative is a welcome breath of spring air. May 100 oversight blossoms bloom this month.

Does Removal of Term Limits Portend Revival of Committee System?

Feb. 17, 12 a.m.

One of the changes made in the new House rules adopted last month was the abolition of term limits for committee and subcommittee chairmen. Republicans had instituted the six-year limits when they took control of Congress in 1995. The rationale was that the veteran chairmen became too closely associated with the agencies and private entities that they were supposed to oversee. Republicans vowed to break that “iron triangle” to ensure that committees were accountable first and foremost to Congress and the American people.

Debate on Adopting Rules Offers Clues to Majority’s Intentions

Feb. 2, 12 a.m.

House debate over adopting its rules on the opening day of a new Congress is usually contentious — sometimes even heated. But, like the proverbial tree falling in the forest, no one is around to hear it.

Inaugurations Are Occasions for Hope and Renewal

Jan. 20, 12 a.m.

Barack Obama’s swearing-in at noon today as our 44th and first African-American president marks a historic milestone for all of us. It is a day on which we look to the future with hope and a renewed sense of national purpose and dedication.

Senate Appointment Imbroglio Has Deeper Roots in Illinois

Jan. 6, 12 a.m.

Let us stipulate, based on FBI wiretaps released by U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, that Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) tried to parlay a Senate appointment into campaign boodle and is therefore a greedy sleazeball. But let us further stipulate that his ultimate choice for the job, former Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris (D), was no part of that “pay to play” scheme. What grounds, then, does the Senate have for blocking Burris’ appointment?

Congressional Reform Promises Yield to Political Impulses

Dec. 15, 12 a.m.

During one of the British parliamentary reform debates of the 1830s, a Member reportedly rose to complain, “Reform, reform, reform, that’s all we hear — as if things aren’t bad enough already.”

Can President Obama Change the Way Washington Works?

Dec. 1, 12 a.m.

When President-elect Barack Obama takes the oath of office on Jan. 20, he will face a host of problems left over from his predecessor’s administration, including two wars and the twin crises of a global financial meltdown and domestic recession. It is probably not the kind of change agenda he had in mind when he first announced his candidacy, but every president must play with the hand he’s dealt.

Early Organization of New Congress Has Roots in Reform Era

Nov. 10, 12 a.m.

When Members return to town next week, there could actually be two Congresses at work simultaneously. Party leaders may call the 110th Congress back for a lame-duck session to take up an economic stimulus package. At the same time, House and Senate Members-elect of the 111th Congress are convening for “early organization” caucuses — mainly for party leadership elections and freshman orientation.