Congress: Politics, Committee changes and retirements

Washington has been relatively quiet for the past month. News from Capitol Hill has been more about retirements and changes at the top of Congressional Committees than legislation.  

The funding of the federal government for this fiscal year was accomplished with relatively ease and that action was followed by the passing of legislation to increase the debt ceiling until March 2015.  The House passed a “clean” debt ceiling bill and, beyond a Ted Cruz-led revolt in the Senate, the debt ceiling debate went smoothly.  

With the two usually confrontational economic measures out of the way, possible disruption of government has been postponed for a while.

The real focus has been on the politics of Washington and the coming election -- not on substance. There has been a rash of retirements announced in both the House and Senate.  The most significant is the departure of Senator Max Baucus (D-MT) to become U.S. Ambassador to China, setting off a series of changes in the Senate Finance and in the Energy and Natural Resources Committee. 

Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) has become the chair of the Finance Committee, succeeding Baucus.  Wyden stepped down from the chair of the Energy Committee and turned the gavel over to Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA).  

The Wyden and Landrieu switches are important as key energy issues remained unaddressed and tax reform continues to linger. Since taking over the gavel in the Finance Committee, Senator Wyden has said he wants to pass legislation to extend and renew about 60 provisions that expired at the end of last year, this are known every year as the “extenders.” 

Wyden also has indicated he wants to review the tax reform policy papers developed over the last year of Senator Baucus’ term, but he has his own ideas about tax reform.   

On energy issues, Senators Wyden and Landrieu have a number of policies difference.  Senator Landrieu favors the Keystone XL Pipeline, supports tax incentives for oil drilling, has been more suspect, if not an opponent, of GHG emission controls for coal-fired power plants and favors LNG exports. Wyden has opposite positions on these issues. 

Still, there is no clear energy agenda by Democrats in the Senate. However, new chairwoman Landrieu clearly sits more on the side of the Republicans when it comes to energy development, especially oil and gas. 

Over on the House side, Resources Committee chairman Doc Hastings (R-WA) announced last week he would not seek reelection, adding to a growing list of House members resigning or retiring.

Just this week, the “Dean of the House” John Dingell (D-MI) announced he will not seek reelection.  Mr. Dingell will have served 60 years when he steps down at the end of the Congress.  He chaired the Energy and Commerce Committee for many years.  He was defeated in his last run for the Committee’s Chairman by Henry Waxman (D-CA), who also has announced he will not seek reelection.  Two of the strongest “old bulls” will be gone – as will Californian veteran Congressman George Miller (D-CA) (who had chaired the Education and Labor Committee).

There will be a number of open seats in the fall House elections.  

Budget: There are a few other substantive areas deserving a note. The first one is the Federal Budget that should have been submitted by the Administration to Congress 3 weeks ago.  It has been reported the blueprint will contain a wish list of tax increases and new social spending programs that will not be seriously considered by Congress. The Budget for the Administration has become a political document rather than a vehicle to set priorities and order risk. 

Energy, Climate and Environment: The House Committee on Energy and Commerce (E&C) continues to challenge the Obama Administration and Democrats on energy and environmental policies.  There is a legislative standoff between the House E&C committee and the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee on key legislation affecting carbon and greenhouse gases.

Tax Reform: Tax reform, an important issue promoted by Ways and Means Chairman Camp (MI-R), is unlikely to be seriously considered this year. Mr. Camp is proceeding ahead though and has released a proposal,  eliminating  deductions and credits while reducing marginal rates.  However, there is only lukewarm support by the House leadership to tackle such a large issue – especially in an election year.  There is little support of tax reform in the Senate by either party. In addition an inactive and feckless Administration makes this an issue for the next Congress.  

Next year, the Ways and Means Committee will have a new Chairman. Current Chairman Camp will have served his term under the rules. If the House takes up tax reform next year, the effort will be driven probably by Paul Ryan (R-WI) as chairman.

Regulation: Finally, the government now is driven to some extent by Administrative and executive order. This is the “go it alone” policy of the Administration. It is by its nature limited; time consuming, challengeable in courts. It is a reflection of the loss of clout by the President in Congress. 

Election

Of course, the overriding issue is the election in 8 1/2 months. It is the driving political issue, which also drives the substance. The impact in a change in the political balance of divided legislative government is hard to overstate.