Grassley Moves Irk Leaders
Roll Call Staff
Senate GOP leaders and many conservatives are chafing at Senate Finance ranking member Chuck Grassley’s (R-Iowa) deals with Democrats during the past year, saying he has provided the majority with cover to call measures “bipartisan” while setting up potentially difficult votes for his fellow Republicans.
Senate Chief Deputy Minority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.) said it is “admirable” that Grassley is trying to forge bipartisan compromise but that Grassley has entered into agreements with Democrats that go too far afield from GOP philosophy.
“As much as you can, you want to write these bills so that they encompass enough of our principles,” Thune said. “On a couple of these bills, that wasn’t the case.”
“I think sometimes you have to learn from that,” Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) said. “If you’re consistently not in step with the [Republican] Conference, maybe you need to evaluate some of your decision-making.”
Sessions complained that Grassley occasionally signs on to bills that “undermine the fundamental agenda we have” as Republicans.
Grassley dismissed suggestions that he is not a party loyalist, going as far as to research his voting record and compare it to other Republicans on the Finance panel. He said his research shows him “statistically” in line with his fellow Republicans.
But several GOP Senators said Grassley should engage Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) more extensively in negotiations on bipartisan measures he crafts with Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.).
“If you work out a deal and then present it to other people, ordinarily, you’re less likely to have buy-in than if you work with other people first and then try to work with the Democrats,” said Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), who also sits on the Finance Committee and has found himself opposing Grassley-backed legislation.
Thune added that there is “not enough negotiation with our guys on the front end before the deal is cut” with Baucus.
“It’s always advisable to try to engage the leadership to try to work out a deal,” Thune said. “As a conference — strategywise — we’re going to have to think through how he and our leadership can have a better way to reach agreement.”
Over the past year, Grassley has run afoul of his leadership on at least three major pieces of legislation: a children’s health insurance bill, an energy tax package and the economic stimulus deal.
Grassley bristled at the charges that he does not confer sufficiently with his GOP colleagues. He said he always endeavors to consult Republicans on the Finance Committee and in the larger Conference on what he’s working on with Baucus. On the children’s health bill, for example, Grassley said he met with his leadership four times and discussed his efforts four times with the rest of the Republicans on the Finance panel. On the economic stimulus, he said he met with GOP leaders twice.
“We had discussion in the [Conferencewide] policy meeting where I spoke on what I was planning on doing on the stimulus package. There wasn’t much discussion,” Grassley said in a recent interview.
When asked if people stood up to tell him not to pursue specific portions of the package with Baucus, Grassley said, “I don’t want to interpret silence, but there was plenty of silence.”
He added, “It’s kind of a case of looking for direction from your meetings, but not getting direction, but people kind of in a quiet way saying, ‘Go ahead and do the best you can do.’ You never really get those words, but that’s the implication you have to go on.”
For example, Grassley said his discussion with McConnell on stimulus was limited primarily to a promise that Grassley would first vote with Republicans to close debate on an unamended House-passed bill. According to Grassley, McConnell never asked him to refrain from brokering a separate deal with Baucus, and the implication Grassley took away from the meeting was that he was free to negotiate.
But Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) structured the debate so Grassley never had to make good on his promise to McConnell, with the key vote being on the Baucus-Grassley bill instead.
Energy and Commerce Committee: Barton Holds the Line for the GOP
March 15, 12 a.m.
Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) knows he’s outnumbered. He knows the Democrats on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, where he serves as ranking member, have the ability to “slam things through” when they want to. Read Full Article
Roll Call Video Channels
