Opinion: Byrd line-itemed out

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OK, so maybe picking Rahm Emanuel as White House chief of staff wasn’t much of a ‘change’ move by President-elect Barack Obama (although it strikes me -- and the Wall Street Journal’s editorial board -- as a smart one). But here’s a sign that of the status quo slipping in Washington: Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia, the entrenched top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, announced that he’s giving up the reins of the committee. Whoo-hoo!!! Now, how about the committee’s top Republican, Ted Stevens?

The decision by Byrd, an unlikely supporter of Obama, may be more symbolic than effective. His replacement is likely to be his longtime colleague, Daniel K. Inouye of Hawaii. Inouye has been as defensive of Congressional earmarks as Byrd and Stevens have been. Removing one more member of the Old Guard is a step toward more transparency on Capitol Hill and, potentially, more responsiveness to the public’s distrust of the whole appropriations process.