Rep. Watts Threatens to Quit GOP Post

Rep. J.C. Watts Jr. (R-Okla.), a member of the House Republican leadership, threatened to resign his post last week after a clash with House GOP Whip Tom DeLay (R-Texas) but the spat appears to have been papered over--at least for the moment--friends of both men said Tuesday.

The flap followed an incident last Wednesday in which DeLay offered a prize to encourage GOP lawmakers to promote party positions on issues, reportedly leading Watts, the GOP’s only black member of Congress, to conclude that the majority whip was trying to usurp his authority as chairman of the House Republican Conference.

Watts, who was said to have clashed with DeLay several times before, angrily confronted House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) and demanded that he intervene. Sources close to Watts said, however, that he has placed his threat to resign as conference chairman “on hold.”

The flap, reported by Roll Call and The Hill, two Capitol Hill newspapers, was seen as further evidence of tension affecting the GOP leadership as it struggles to manage a badly split House amid perceptions that DeLay, rather than Hastert, is running the institution.

Watts, 42, a former University of Oklahoma football star who was elected to Congress in 1994, was chosen for the No. 4 leadership slot last January after moderates were pressed to place an African American in a prominent position in the House GOP hierarchy.

Over the last several months, Watts has sought to broaden the party’s appeal among Democrats and independents by trying to tailor a new political promotion strategy to attract more blacks, women and small-business owners.

He has been criticized by some Republicans for failing to act aggressively enough. But Watts aides have complained that many House Republicans have seemed indifferent and have not responded to his requests.

If Watts were to resign from the leadership job, it would be a public relations setback for Hastert and his lieutenants, opening the way for sharp criticism from the black community.

Spokesmen for Watts, DeLay and Hastert all declined to comment. Watts’ office issued a statement quoting the congressman as saying that he considered his private conversations with the speaker to be “family business and not for public consumption or innuendo.”

But strategists close to Watts said that the flap with DeLay was not merely one over turf but that the two men had differed sharply over the basic approach that the party should take in trying to promote its positions on key issues.

“J.C. isn’t interested in replaying the whole impeachment battle over and over again,” said one Watts ally--a reference to DeLay’s well-known dislike for President Clinton and his desire to credit the GOP for bringing the president to trial last January.

According to sources on both sides, the latest dispute stemmed from a meeting on July 27 in which Watts asked DeLay for help from the whip’s office in prodding GOP House members to make appearances on behalf of the party at rallies, on talk radio shows and at other events.

When DeLay seemed reluctant to use the whip’s office machinery for anything besides vote-counting, Watts apparently left, believing that he would be permitted to muster GOP campaign troops as he saw fit.

Instead, at a meeting of the GOP conference the following Thursday, DeLay distributed a Republican “communications” package and offered a prize--initially a sky box at a Washington Redskins football game--for the first House member to complete a list of suggested radio appearances and speeches.

It was then, both sides said, that Watts reportedly became angry and strode over to Hastert’s office to demand that the speaker “rein in” DeLay.

Sources close to DeLay described reports of the incident as “overblown” and said that the Texas lawmaker did not intend to usurp Watts’ authority when he handed out the promotion packets. “He was just trying to help get members on board,” one said.

However, some analysts suggested that relations between the two men, while ostensibly patched up, are likely to remain touchy. “This could be a real problem for the speaker,” one strategist said.