Defied Capital Establishment by Challenging Gramm-Rudman : Synar Energetic, Willing to Take Risks

Those who know Rep. Mike Synar were not the least bit surprised when the young Democrat from Muskogee, Okla., defied the Washington Establishment by going to U.S. District Court to challenge the constitutionality of a law that his colleagues in Congress viewed as the answer to deficit spending.

In his eight years as a congressman, Synar has gained a reputation as an energetic, unconventional politician who wears loud neckties, strolls the corridors of power in cowboy boots and is not afraid to take political risks if he feels strongly about an issue.

Compelled by Belief

Synar, a lawyer who readily admits that he earned only a B-minus when he studied constitutional law at Northwestern University, said he was compelled to challenge the Gramm-Rudman balanced-budget law by his belief that Congress may not delegate its responsibility to a computer.

But his court victory Friday is only one of many unusual things that the son of a prominent Oklahoma rancher has accomplished since he was first elected to Congress in 1977 at the age of 28, with no previous experience in elective office.

Synar is described by an aide to the House Democratic leadership as “a classic sort of up-and-coming young congressman” whose acts of political daring may pave the way for him to be elected to a leadership position in the House or to higher office.

As a mark of his unorthodox behavior, Synar has run up the most liberal voting record of any member of Congress from the conservative state of Oklahoma. He frequently votes against the wishes of the oil industry, which dominates his home state.

‘Corporate Welfare’

Last December, for example, he led a successful fight in the House to abolish the Synthetic Fuels Corp., whose loan guarantees to oil companies for development of synthetic fuels he characterized as “corporate welfare.”

Not all of his efforts have been as successful as the Gramm-Rudman suit, however. As a member of the Judiciary Committee, Synar tried unsuccessfully in 1984 to play the role of a mediator when a House-Senate conference committee was deadlocked on a bill to overhaul the nation’s immigration laws.

Campaign financing reform is another one of Synar’s uphill battles. With Sen. David L. Boren (D-Okla.), he co-sponsored a bill that would limit the amount of funding any candidate for Congress may receive from a political action committee. As for himself, he takes no money from PACs outside of Oklahoma.

Another Big Battle

Even before his Gramm-Rudman lawsuit finally is settled by the Supreme Court, Synar appears to be taking on another big battle by demanding more information for members of Congress about the costs of the Pentagon’s many supersecret defense projects. Last year, he successfully sponsored an amendment seeking to force the Defense Department to report to members of Congress on the projected costs of its most expensive classified project, the Stealth bomber.

But, for all of his unconventional attitudes, Synar appears to be motivated by a highly predictable Washington trait: political ambition. His colleagues report that he is already campaigning quietly for the chairmanship of the House Democratic Caucus, because there is a chance that the current chairman, Rep. Richard A. Gephardt (D-Mo.), may not seek reelection.

‘Hit 150 Offices’

As one source explained it, Synar “already has hit 150 offices, talking to people in a race that may not materialize.”

Also, Synar makes no secret of his desire to move to the Senate. In testifying before the Senate Rules Committee recently on his PAC spending bill, he pointedly addressed the committee members by their first names--as if he already were one of them.