House Challenge: Kiss and Make Up

They all want to move on. But it won’t be easy.

As the post-impeachment Congress returns to the smoking battlefield today, it’s the lawmakers themselves who will go on trial. They face a stern test of their ability to overcome the most flagrantly partisan period in recent history and work harmoniously on the public agenda.

That challenge is especially daunting for the House, which impeached President Clinton in December on a mostly party-line vote after months of sniping between Republicans and Democrats that left many licking their political wounds--and nursing grudges.

Those hard feelings have not altogether abated.

“It’s going to be tough. This has been a very emotional time for a lot of people,” said Rep. Gary A. Condit (D-Ceres), a conservative who has worked closely with Republicans. “The healing process is going to take a little while before we’re going to have any level of trust and confidence in each other.”

Many House Republicans share Condit’s concerns. “Clearly, there’s going to be antagonism by Democrats toward us,” said Rep. Mark Foley (R-Fla.)

Partisan Bitterness Entrenched in House

Still, letting bygones be bygones is apt to be the theme at the meeting between congressional leaders and Clinton scheduled for Tuesday at the White House. How much impact that will have in the legislative trenches is open to question.

One of the most enduring images of the enmity among lawmakers occurred the day before the House approved two articles of impeachment against Clinton, when Reps. Patrick J. Kennedy (D-R.I.) and Bob Barr (R-Ga.) got into an angry shouting match just off the House floor.

Many Democrats to this day detest Barr and most of the other dozen House Republicans who acted as prosecutors in the Senate impeachment trial.

“There’s still a small reservoir of goodwill for Henry Hyde, but that’s about it,” said one moderate House Democrat, referring to the Judiciary Committee chairman from Illinois who led the impeachment drive.

“The House had a much harsher experience than the Senate,” said Gary C. Jacobson, a UC San Diego political scientist.

For that reason, senators anticipate an easier time reaching across the aisle as they grapple with such issues as Social Security, Medicare, education, a patients’ bill of rights and tax cuts.

Despite frequent party-line votes, the Senate emerged from the impeachment trial with its traditional comity intact. And after spending an unprecedented amount of time together during the trial, many said the experience bonded them in ways that bode well for bipartisanship.

“We never degenerated into the hard feelings that characterized the House debate and the very mean-spirited partisanship there,” Sen. Tim Hutchinson (R-Ark.) said in an interview.

Among the colleagues he got to know better during the trial was Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine). For two years, they have shared desks side-by-side in the back row of the Senate chamber. Yet they did not really get acquainted until the trial.

As they sat silently through days of lawyerly presentations, Collins began passing him notes with her comments and observations. He responded in kind.

“The Senate, having gone through this experience, is much more united than I’ve ever seen it,” Collins said. “This ordeal has brought us closer together, and we’re going to be able to work as a Senate much better than before. That’s the one positive result of this experience.”

House members on both sides of the aisle were far less sanguine about their ability to put impeachment behind them.

“There’s a lot of bitterness over here among Democrats,” said Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Los Angeles). “It’s going to linger on with a lot of issues we’ll have to deal with.”

Rep. Charles T. Canady (R-Fla.), a House “manager” in the impeachment trial, expressed a similar concern. “I wouldn’t be surprised if some are still replaying the past,” he said. “But I don’t think that serves anyone’s interest--especially the American people’s.”

Looming political realities complicate matters. With a pitched battle for control of both houses of Congress taking shape, on top of a presidential election, many fear that little will get done despite the best of intentions among lawmakers who would like to leave the impeachment imbroglio behind.

“Even without impeachment, it would have been a very tough year,” said Rep. Robert T. Matsui (D-Sacramento).

House Democrats Face Complex Question

Nonetheless, both Clinton and Congress--especially the Republicans--have a strong interest in building a non-impeachment legacy.

“You can imagine a mutual deal between Republicans and the White House to have some achievement that will make people forget about impeachment,” Jacobson said.

For Democrats, however, the political calculations are more complex. They, too, want to tackle the public agenda. Yet many believe they can enhance their chances of recapturing the House, and possibly the Senate, if they can hang a “do-nothing” label on the GOP majority in the 2000 campaign.

That desire helps blur the legislative outlook.

“House Democrats are in something of a conflict of interest: Do they help the president rebuild a legacy, or do they paralyze the place and hope Republican inaction will hand them a majority?” said Washington-based political analyst Charles Cook.

The one person who could help eradicate the ill will in the House is the untested but well-liked new speaker, J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.). A low-key, seven-term congressman, the conservative Hastert is widely viewed as a conciliatory, easy-to-get-along-with sort.

“I think it’s going to be a very difficult time in the House. But if there’s a hope, it’s probably him,” said Gary Copeland, a University of Oklahoma congressional analyst.

But whether Hastert can pave the way for the House to enact significant legislation remains very much in doubt. “He will certainly lower the temperature in terms of personal acrimony,” said University of Virginia political commentator Larry Sabato. “But whether anything gets done is another question.”

“It’s going to take some work to get the parties to work together again,” said Rep. Thomas M. Barrett (D-Wis.). “But time heals all wounds.”