GOP-Led Senate Won’t Be a Pushover for Bush

The Republican takeover of the Senate will provide President Bush with powerful new allies to push his agenda -- a phalanx of GOP lawmakers leading the committees where the essential work of shaping legislation occurs.

But based on their track records, many of these committee chairmen will not be mere rubber stamps for the administration. The new Senate barons include a cadre of mavericks and independent thinkers who bring their own ideas and quirks to the legislative table.

Heading the Appropriations Committee is the wily and combative Ted Stevens of Alaska, who often pushes for more spending than Bush wants. The new chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, Richard G. Lugar of Indiana, is an internationalist who has been less than eager to plunge into war with Iraq. The Commerce Committee’s incoming chairman was Bush’s nemesis in the 2000 GOP presidential primary: John McCain of Arizona.

Once Congress convenes Jan. 7, this lineup could present Bush with an early leadership challenge: keeping his own party’s power brokers in line.

“If Ted Stevens or John McCain gets his back up, then the administration is in for a real tough time,” said Steve Smith, a political scientist at Washington University in St. Louis.

Having Republicans at the helm even on their rambunctious days will be far better for Bush than having Democrats head the Senate committees. The GOP chairmen will lend muscle to key Bush initiatives in energy, the environment and defense policy. And whatever their personal priorities, the chairmen will be under enormous pressure to toe the administration line. That’s because Republican control of the new Senate resulted, in part, from Bush’s barnstorming in this year’s campaign.

“For once, you will have a lot of people in the Senate feeling they do owe him,” said Barbara Sinclair, a political science professor at UCLA.

Many of the chairmen-in-waiting, such as Stevens and McCain, are returning to posts they held for the first five months of 2001, before James M. Jeffords’ defection from the GOP gave Democrats the majority. Others are new in their posts.

Taking charge of the Budget Committee is Don Nickles of Oklahoma, a fervent believer in cutting taxes and limited government. He is critical of fiscal decisions Congress has made even when the GOP controlled both chambers in recent years.

“We were spending like crazy,” he said. “It’s been phenomenal. It’s not sustainable.”

His philosophy represents a huge change from that of the panel’s outgoing chairman, Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), who railed against GOP tax cuts and the toll they took on domestic programs and the budget deficit. But Nickles also differs from the Republican who served as chairman or the ranking minority member of the Budget Committee for the last 22 years: Pete V. Domenici of New Mexico. Less confrontational in personality, Domenici has been more wary of tax cuts than many Republicans during times of budget deficits. And as a member of the Appropriations Committee, he has been more sympathetic with that panel’s chronic pleas for more money.

“Domenici came up in the Senate at a time when it was very collegial and bipartisan and not very ideological,” said Stanley E. Collender, a federal budget expert with the public relations firm of Fleishman-Hillard. “For Nickles, the budget has always been a vehicle to cut taxes.”

Domenici is switching jobs to head the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, where he will be an assist to Bush’s production-oriented energy policy.

The next chairman of the Committee on Environment and Public Works, James M. Inhofe of Oklahoma, is expected to support efforts to scale back government regulation. Inhofe long has been concerned about environmental regulations that he believes burden energy producers and refiners -- important industries in his home state. He also has urged more stringent cost-benefit analysis of regulations.

That’s an abrupt shift in attitude from that of Jeffords, who after becoming an independent chaired the committee under Democratic rule.

Inhofe also is seen as more pro-business than the last Republican chairman of the committee, Bob Smith of New Hampshire. Smith, defeated in his party’s primary earlier this year, sided occasionally with the environmental lobby. In a prominent break with Bush, Smith opposed oil exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Probably no chairman will be more important to Bush’s domestic agenda than Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), who will regain chairmanship of the Finance Committee. In that post, he is expected to back Bush’s drive to cut taxes.

But Grassley also has a populist streak that could put him at odds with the administration on other issues. For example, this year he sponsored a bill opposed by the White House that would have cracked down on corporations that evade taxes by setting up headquarters in foreign tax havens, such as Bermuda.

In the early weeks of the new Congress, much attention will be focused on Stevens and the Appropriations Committee. As the panel’s chairman, he will be a key player as lawmakers work on a slew of spending bills that remain unfinished for the fiscal year that began Oct. 1.

Most domestic programs are being funded by a stopgap measure that provided only short-term funding at previous levels, delaying expected increases for a raft of agencies.

Bush is pressing hard for Congress to stick to his overall budget target of $750 billion. Stevens and other Budget Committee members -- Republicans and Democrats alike -- for months had been arguing more money is needed. The disagreement sparked an open clash between Stevens and Bush’s budget director, Mitchell E. Daniels Jr.

After November’s election, Stevens said he will try to stick with the president’s request. But sources close to the committee say any Bush victory may be only temporary: The panel would likely approve some spending requests later in the year in a supplemental appropriation bill.

Next year, Lugar will be a key player in the debate on whether and when to go to war with Iraq. And some on Capitol Hill believe he may provide a counterweight to the administration’s more bellicose instincts.

Lugar, a respected foreign policy expert, challenged the administration during this fall’s debate on a resolution authorizing the use of force against Iraq. With Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.), he offered an alternative that would have put more restraints than the White House wanted on its prerogatives. But under heavy pressure from the White House, Lugar backed down and voted for the administration-backed measure.

At the Commerce Committee, McCain will return with a market-oriented approach to industry regulation that fits well with Bush’s views. But the panel also gives McCain a platform for the populist issues that often set him at odds with Bush.

Another Republican who has never shied from conflict with the White House is Richard C. Shelby of Alabama, who will head the Banking Committee.

As chairman and ranking Republican on the Intelligence Committee in recent years, he has been vocal in his criticism of the country’s intelligence agencies. And on other banking issues, Shelby is more consumer-oriented than most GOP lawmakers, including retiring Sen. Phil Gramm of Texas, the last Republican to chair the panel.

Two other key panels will be chaired by Republicans Bush almost assuredly can count on.

Chairmanship of the Judiciary Committee will transfer from one of the Senate’s leading liberals -- Patrick J. Leahy of Vermont -- to one of its prominent conservatives -- Orrin G. Hatch of Utah. From there, Hatch can whisk through Bush’s nominees for judgeships who have been slowed or blocked by Leahy.

As chairman of the Armed Services Committee, John W. Warner of Virginia will help shape defense policy. He is a friend of the Pentagon and supporter of Bush’s policy on Iraq.