Democrats See ‘Reagan Revolution’ End : With Control of Both Houses, Party Is Eager to Reverse Policies

Democratic leaders, ready to reclaim full control of Congress for the first time since President Reagan’s landslide in 1980, Wednesday hailed their new 10-seat Senate majority as a death knell for the “Reagan revolution” and the beginning of a new era of realism at the Pentagon.

Both Reagan and the Democrats pledged to seek compromise in the aftermath of the divisive mid-term election, even though they appeared to be heading for a series of fractious confrontations on virtually every issue, ranging from Reagan’s “Star Wars” nuclear defense system to his controversial judicial appointments.

Referendum on Policies

With a 55-45 majority in the Senate, Democrats are itching to reverse the policies that Reagan initiated six years ago after he and other Republicans were swept into office on a conservative tide. The President had invited such action by framing the election as a referendum on his arms control and economic agenda.

“I would hope that the President would read the message that was sent by the American people,” Senate Democratic leader Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.) declared. “And that message is: ‘Look, your economic policies have not worked in so many instances.’ ”

At the White House, however, officials were understandably unwilling to interpret the election as a repudiation of Reagan’s policies. In a somber postelection staff meeting, the President defiantly vowed to “complete the revolution that we have so well begun.”

But, even before the Democrats’ overwhelming victory, the President’s policies were challenged frequently by the politically divided 99th Congress. And now, with the Democrats firmly in charge of both chambers, there is no doubt that Congress will undertake numerous efforts to frustrate the will of the President. In the House, Democrats are likely to increase their majority to 259, with Republicans holding 176 seats, after all the votes are counted, although four races were still in doubt Wednesday night. Democrats currently hold a 253-180 margin, with two vacancies.

In the new Congress, Democrats not only will have a sufficient majority to pass legislation such as the campaign reform and protectionist trade bills that were blocked previously by the GOP-dominated Senate, but the Senate committee chairmanships will pass to Democrats, who can be expected to use the congressional hearing process to focus public attention on controversial aspects of the Reagan regime--including Administration efforts to place more conservatives in the judiciary.

Among the Democrats who will inherit committee chairmanships are such well-known liberals as Sens. Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, who has his choice between the Judiciary and the Labor and Human Resources committees; Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware, who gets Judiciary if Kennedy takes Labor and Human Resources, and Claiborne Pell of Rhode Island, who will head Foreign Relations.

Yet, Democratic leaders indicated that they do not intend to challenge Reagan personally, nor are they planning any risky initiatives such as a tax increase to trim the federal deficit. The President is still too popular, and the Democrats are not interested in doing anything that might hurt their chances of recapturing the presidency in 1988.

Challenge to Byrd

In addition, their victory only heightened squabbling within the Democratic caucus. On Nov. 20, when Senate Democrats meet to select their leaders, Byrd will be challenged for the job of majority leader by Sen. J. Bennett Johnston of Louisiana, and many senators have complained privately that neither Byrd nor Johnston is polished enough to help the party’s image.

Arms control and defense policies are likely to be the most hard-fought issues between Reagan and the 100th Congress. The chairmanship of the powerful Armed Services Committee will pass from retiring Sen. Barry Goldwater (R-Ariz.) to Sen. Sam Nunn (D-Ga.), who--despite his reputation as a cautious moderate--recently has challenged the President’s bargaining position in arms control talks with the Soviet Union.

On Wednesday, Nunn declared his intention to halt the production of weapons systems that he believes the United States cannot afford. He indicated that he would continue to emphasize the importance of conventional weaponry while placing less reliance than the President on “Star Wars,” known officially as the Strategic Defense Initiative.

“We’ve got to put Humpty Dumpty back together, particularly in arms control and national security matters,” he said. “My agenda would also include trying to get a consensus on SDI. It has been heavily politicized in this campaign by President Reagan.”

Furious on Arms Control

Democrats backed away from a confrontation with Reagan on arms control before the Iceland summit meeting, and they are furious that the President in subsequent stump speeches accused them of trying to enact the Soviet bargaining position into law.

Sen. George J. Mitchell (D-Me.), who heads the Senate Democratic Campaign Committee, said that the Democrats will continue to fund a “Star Wars” research program but will refuse to allow the Reagan Administration to violate the existing anti-ballistic missile treaty with the Soviets, as conservatives would like.

“The fact of the matter is that the President’s funding request for SDI has been significantly reduced each year . . . by the Republican-controlled Senate, so the Democratic-controlled Senate and the Democratic-controlled House are going to look very carefully at the requests that the President makes,” Mitchell said.

Democrats are by no means unanimous in their approach to defense policy, however. House and Senate Democrats strongly disagree over how to trim defense spending, and Sen. John C. Stennis (D-Miss.), the new chairman of the Appropriations Committee, is much more conservative on defense matters than many of his Democratic colleagues in both chambers.

In foreign policy, the Democratic victory means an end to the reign of Foreign Relations Chairman Richard G. Lugar (R-Ind.), who fostered compromise between Reagan and Congress. With Pell at the committee’s helm, liberal subcommittee chairmen such as Sens. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.) and John Kerry (D-Mass.) will have a new platform to attack Reagan’s foreign policy.

Rebel Aid a Target

Their first target will be aid to the Nicaraguan rebels, which Congress passed by only a narrow majority last year. Byrd declared on Wednesday that, under the Democrats, “there won’t be any secret war fought in Central America that is funded by the Central Intelligence Agency through the back door.”

Others vowed to kill the program entirely. Sen. Alan Cranston (D-Calif.), who will become the assistant majority leader, told a news conference that the new Senate will have a 51-49 majority against aid to the rebels.

Under Kennedy or Biden, likewise, the Judiciary Committee is expected to be even more hostile than it has already been to Reagan’s conservative judicial appointees--particularly his future Supreme Court nominees. Yet, conservatism alone is unlikely to disqualify them, because, as a matter of Senate tradition, the President is believed to be within his rights to choose whomever he wishes to serve in appointive office.

No Blank Check

“The President does not have a blank check,” Cranston said. “The President will have to be much more concerned about what will occur in the nomination process should the opportunity come . . . to make further nominations to the Supreme Court in the final two years of the Reagan era.”

Cranston vowed that the Democrats would seek to revive trade and campaign reform legislation that was bottled up in the 99th Congress by the Senate Republican leadership. Both measures are likely to be vetoed by Reagan. In addition, Cranston pledged that the new Congress would succeed in trimming the deficit without doing harm to social programs.