Rep. Steven LaTourette said Republicans should stick to the message of cutting spending and not get into ideological battles that scare off independents.
House Republican moderates, finding themselves a minority in the new House majority, are not planning to dig in their heels to try to drag the Conference to the center over the next two years.
But they are hoping to build coalitions that can shape policy.
“I don’t expect our stance on issues is going to differ much from the Conference,” said Rep. Jo Ann Emerson (Mo.), co-chairwoman of the centrist Tuesday Group. “I think it’s all going to depend. We’re just so early in the process.”
The 43-member Tuesday Group has met twice so far this Congress and has no plans to come up with an agenda of its own. In many ways, the moderate lawmakers said, they are still trying to figure out how they will fit in with the new House majority.
One thing seems evident, however. The Tuesday Group won’t take a cue from its Democratic equivalent, the moderate Blue Dog Coalition, which spent much of the past two years objecting to its Democratic leadership’s top priorities and pushing the agenda to the middle. Tuesday Group members say they prefer to make changes on the margins and hope to serve as a balance to newly elected conservative tea party Members.
Emerson noted that the group benefits from counting as one of its members Rep. Greg Walden (Ore.), a close ally to Speaker John Boehner (Ohio) who led the GOP transition. Emerson said Walden serves as a liaison between the Tuesday Group and the leadership.
“I think that we are interested in talking with anybody about anything,” Emerson said. “And I think it’s too early to make any blanket statements.”
Brad Dayspring, a spokesman for Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.), said his boss is “in constant communications with all Members.”
Former Rep. Tom Davis (Va.), who leads the centrist Republican Main Street Partnership, gave House GOP leaders high marks for their outreach to their moderate flank, saying they “know what they’re doing in terms of building coalitions.”
“We have no complaints with leadership at this point in terms of where they are going,” Davis told reporters at an event last week. “Main Streeters and moderates are not asking for control. We’re just asking to be part of the team, part of the coalition.”
Democrats, adjusting to their return to the minority, have said they see opportunities to align with centrist Republicans in the new Congress. A top ally for the Democratic moderates, Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), said Monday that wants to meet with Emerson and Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Pa.), the other Tuesday Group co-chairman, after this week’s recess. Hoyer has already met with GOP leaders and said he hopes they will enable deal-making between GOP moderates and Democrats.
Rep. Bill Cassidy has his blood drawn by Alesha Barbour during a free hepatitis screening in the Rayburn House Office Building hosted by the Congressional Viral Hepatitis Caucus to recognize "National Viral Hepatitis Testing Day."
Roll Call has launched a new feature, Hill Navigator, to advise congressional staffers and would-be staffers on how to manage workplace issues on Capitol Hill. Please send us your questions — anything from office etiquette, to handling awkward moments, to what happens when the work life gets too personal. Submissions will be treated anonymously.
