Minority in Each House Frustrated : Rising Partisanship Seen as Deadlocking Congress

Conservative Republicans across the country recently received a four-page letter from Rep. Jack Kemp (R-N.Y.) seeking contributions for a political campaign “to stop . . . a dangerous enemy.” His target: House Speaker Thomas P. (Tip) O’Neill Jr. (D-Mass.).

“These are strong words,” Kemp acknowledged, “but the list of facts of what Tip O’Neill has said and done portray an attitude that may lead to an even more dangerous situation. As Speaker of the House, he has more power than most people realize and, if he isn’t stopped soon, he could destroy all our progress.”

The letter, which O’Neill’s supporters promptly condemned as “red-baiting” reminiscent of the tactics of the late Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy (R-Wis.), is the latest salvo in a dramatic turn toward partisanship in the U.S. Congress--a trend that has consequences far beyond the political charges and countercharges of the combatants.

Many analysts hold the new partisanship responsible for Congress’ difficulties this year in reaching agreements on such key issues as Social Security, defense spending and farm assistance. Party leaders fear that it could lead to a permanent deadlock as long as the House and Senate remain under the control of different parties.

In the House, a long-simmering rivalry between the Democratic majority and the Republican minority boiled over recently in a bitter dispute over who won last November’s election in Indiana’s 8th Congressional District. The dispute has led to daily recriminations that frequently disrupt legislative business on the House floor and in committees. “Indiana was the straw that broke the camel’s back,” a House GOP aide said.

And, even in the Senate, where the standoff between majority Republicans and minority Democrats is more polite, there has been a marked trend toward party-line votes. Less than two weeks ago, the Democrats nearly scuttled the Republican budget by maintaining their ranks on the final vote with only a single defector.

Democratic Frustrations

“I have detected less willingness to work for a bipartisan solution,” said Sen. John Heinz (R-Pa.), who is chairman of the Senate GOP Campaign Committee. “Democrats are becoming increasingly frustrated at being a minority.”

This resurgence of partisanship--coming on the heels of more than two decades in which political scientists lamented the breakdown of congressional party discipline--coincides with an unusual period of split party control of Congress. Since 1981, the Democrats have controlled the House and the Republicans have dominated the Senate; not since the 1880s has a period of divided control lasted so long.

President Reagan has contributed to partisan animosity with his attacks on Democrats as “big spenders” and sympathizers with the leftist regime in Nicaragua.

And, finally, the return to party rule reflects a growing belief on both sides of the aisle that next year’s congressional elections could determine not only which party will control the Senate but also how voters will align themselves with political parties for many years to come.

Parity for Republicans

“There are many things at stake in 1986 besides control of the Senate--whether Ronald Reagan will become a premature lame duck and whether the Republican Party will maintain its parity position among the voters,” Heinz said. “I never thought that I would ever see the Republicans in a parity position with the Democrats, as they are now. It is a remarkable achievement.”

Party positions are crystallizing in anticipation of the next elections, which are still nearly a year and a half away. Republicans in Congress have chosen to emphasize deficit reduction; Democrats are pressing for the preservation of Social Security and farm programs and for cutbacks in Reagan’s military buildup.

On defense and foreign policy issues, on which conservative Democrats and liberal Republicans traditionally cross party lines, congressional leaders expect the trend toward strict party unity to dissolve. However, on budget issues, they expect the rift between the two parties to widen over the next 17 months.

In the House, where the Democrats now hold a 253-182 advantage and the GOP minority has virtually no hope of gaining majority control in this decade, the current bickering stems from a sense of frustration among House Republicans, who are tired of being the minority.

Deputy Whip May Quit

Dissatisfaction with minority status is one reason that Rep. Tom Loeffler of Texas, chief deputy minority whip and a rising young star among House Republicans, is considering leaving Washington to run against Democratic Gov. Mark White of Texas.

“These people (House Republicans) in the minority are not a factor,” said Rep. Tony Coelho (D-Merced). “They see their Republican colleagues in the Senate quoted in the newspapers a lot and they see a Republican President in the White House making policy, and they’re never consulted.”

However, many Republicans attribute their predicament to the high-handed tactics of a Democratic majority that has reigned in the House since the mid-1950s. “You can trace it into the early 1970s, when the Democrats started changing the rules,” a House GOP aide said. “There has been a systematic reorganization of the way the House functions.”

Among the Republicans’ complaints is that, under O’Neill’s leadership, they have been deprived of a fair share of committee seats--allowing them less than their rightful impact on legislation.

Their frustrations bubbled to the surface on May 1, when the Democrats voted to seat Rep. Frank McCloskey (D-Ind.) over Republican Richard D. McIntyre after an extremely close election and a bitterly contested series of recounts.

Alleged O’Neill Bias

Since then, Republicans have taken every opportunity to protest O’Neill’s alleged bias in running the House. Last Wednesday, they tried unsuccessfully to adjourn the House on grounds that they were being excluded by Budget Committee Democrats from secret drafting sessions on the fiscal 1986 budget.

An increasingly powerful right-wing group of Republicans has been responsible for promoting those confrontational tactics. This faction, whose leaders include Rep. Newt Gingrich of Georgia, increasingly disagrees with occasional efforts by Minority Leader Robert H. Michel (R-Ill.) to work out bipartisan compromises with O’Neill.

Coelho blames the GOP right wing for starting the current partisan warfare in the mid-1970s, when the House Republican Campaign Committee first ran political television advertisements fiercely critical of O’Neill and other House Democratic leaders.

“All we’re trying to do is grab the grenades and throw them back,” said Coelho, who cited Kemp’s fund-raising letter as evidence that the Republicans are using McCarthy-style tactics. “They are questioning the patriotism of our people. We have a right to respond.”

The partisan fighting has enabled O’Neill to impose more than his customary party discipline on the diverse House Democratic contingent.

‘More Spirit ... Control’

“Everybody wants the parties to get back more spirit and more control, and that’s happening,” Coelho said. “We’ll never vote as a bloc, but I think it’s amazing that we were able to come up with a Democratic budget this week. A year ago, I would have said: ‘No way, we’ll never get there.’ ”

In the Senate, where the GOP holds a 53-47 edge, Democratic leaders also claim increased party unity. They note that Majority Leader Bob Dole (R-Kan.) was unable to get more than one Democratic vote for the Republican-written budget compromise that squeaked through the Senate on May 10 when Vice President George Bush broke a tie vote.

“The Democrats are learning a little bit more about being the minority,” said Sen. Lawton Chiles of Florida, top-ranking Democrat on the Senate Budget Committee. “When we were in the majority, we could be all over the lot. We can’t do that now if we want to have input.”

Senate Democrats voted as a bloc earlier this year in favor of a farm credit program opposed by the President. In referring to the farm vote, Assistant Senate Majority Leader Alan K. Simpson (R-Wyo.) said: “We were all a little startled by how tough they got so quickly.”

Nicaraguan Issue

Similarly, on the issue of aid to Nicaraguan rebels, Minority Leader Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.) held his Democrats in line last month while he sought to negotiate a compromise with the White House. Reagan ultimately received 10 Democratic votes for his aid proposal, but not until he had made a number of concessions sought by Byrd.

Senate aides marveled that liberals such as Christopher J. Dodd (D-Mass.) and conservatives such as J. Bennett Johnston (D-La.) were willing to join in this effort. Sources said that this unity was forged partly in reaction to a Reagan radio address in which he portrayed the Democrats as sympathizers with Nicaragua’s leftist regime.

Byrd may be seeking to assert himself as party leader in the wake of an unsuccessful challenge earlier this year by Chiles. But Democrats note that Byrd sees an opportunity in 1986--when 22 Republican Senate seats are up for election--to reclaim the job of majority leader that he held for four years before the Republicans took control of the Senate in the 1980 elections.

As one aide put it: “The Senate Democrats smell blood in 1986.”