President Barack Obama’s toughened, beat-up-on-Congress strategy, which he honed in the payroll tax cut fight at the end of 2011, should only intensify this year, with the White House facing a tough re-election fight and dim prospects of seeing much of consequence enacted.
Asking nearly any Republican freshman House Member about the class’s first year in Congress yields a similar and perhaps not surprising reaction: They’re frustrated. Swept into office with a mandate to change the way Washington works, the first-termers have not been able to satisfactorily achieve their policy objectives in a climate of extreme legislative gridlock, they say.
Earlier this year, a CBS News poll showed Congress’ job approval at 12 percent, while CNN had it at 16 percent in mid-December and Gallup had it at 11 percent at the same time. Given those stunningly low numbers, it isn’t surprising that Democratic strategists figure that running against Congressional Republicans is a way for President Barack Obama to win re-election and for Democrats to retake the House.
Roll Call’s Fabulous 50 showcases Capitol Hill’s leading Democratic and Republican staffers. These top staffers are selected based on four criteria: Mastery, Influence, Spin and Access. Mastery is awarded to the Hill’s policy and procedural experts; Influence is given to the individuals who drive the agenda, cut the deals, craft legislation and sway Members; Spin is given to Congress’ best communicators who help set the tone and frame the debate; Access is awarded to those staffers who are in the room when decisions are made.
For an incumbent president on shaky ground in his bid for a second term, the election-year State of the Union address offers a unique opportunity to kick off the campaign. Since 1948, incumbents facing tough races used the well of the House floor as only they can, transporting their bully pulpits down Pennsylvania Avenue.
The second session of the 112th Congress is set to be just as gridlocked as the first, but leaders this year will be even more saddled by the awareness that the White House and Senate hang in the balance with their every move. The high-stakes presidential race will likely dictate every agenda item Congress considers — and when.
Capitol Hill might be grinding to a partisan, election-year standstill, but there is still plenty to do on K Street. The influence sector is planning an aggressive agenda, casting policies such as tax reform with plenty of political spin. Business lobbyists say they will capitalize on the acrimony between the House GOP and the White House in an attempt to use Congress to rein in federal regulators.
With two formal probes under way, an outside attorney looking at whether the committee botched its investigation of Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) and three ongoing examinations of Members who have been neither cleared nor sanctioned, the House Ethics Committee is poised to begin 2012 with a bigger bang than it did the year before.
With 25 House Members and Senators heading for the exits instead of seeking re-election or another office this fall, Congress is losing more than four centuries of institutional memory and service.
• Roll Call Casualty List: 112th Congress
While tea partyers dream of a smaller government and a shrinking federal workforce, local real estate developers are betting the other way. Even as some agencies trim their sails a bit, developers say Washington, D.C., is generally thriving amid the economic suffering that afflicts much of the country.
Dear returning politicos: If one of your New Year’s resolutions was to raise your profile, consider adding these local hospitality hot spots to your dining rotation in 2012.
