Getting the House in Order

Speculation over the shape the new Democratic power structure will take is mostly focused on the various Obama Admin cabinet possibilities, but I think it’s worth taking a look at the legislative side, too.  Joe Lieberman out as chairman of anything but his own one man party should be a given, of course.  On the House side, I’d like to see Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) succeed in his bid to take the Energy and Commerce Committee chairmanship from Rep. John Dingell (D-MI).   Rep. Dingell is, to be sure, an extremely smart, talented, and principled legislator.  He is also, I think, entirely too grounded in the Detroit manufacturing industry.  Those ties will stand in the way of truly transformative energy policy, I’m afraid, and Waxman’s demonstrated aggressiveness will be an asset in the Committee’s oversight roles.  I don’t know if Waxman’s willingness to be open with this effort will bring other challenges out into the open, but I think a bit of competition for these chairmanships can be healthy.

Also, I think that we should expect to see a fundamental change in the way that goverment operates.  Sure, the Democrat in the White House and the Democrats in the Senate and House share a lot of common policy goals, and should be expected to work together to achieve them.  But they are in two fundamentally different branches of government.  I don’t think it will take long before we see House Dems reassert the power they have as a seperate and co-equal branch of government.  This, of course, will be cheered on by the Republicans, who will welcome it as a sign of Democratic weakness.  I think the public, however, should see it as a sign of the strength of the American system of government.  Checks and balances are healthy, and lead to more durable legislation and policy.

(If you’re interested in the origin of the current system of Party First, check out this interview with former Congressman Mickey Edwards (R-OK).   In it, he describes Gingrich’s reshaping of the Republicans in Congress from a seperate institutional power to a supporting cast for President George H.W. Bush, and how that eventually led to this idea that it’s entirely about party, rather than insitution, country, or Constitution.  I found it very interesting.  It’s about 18 minutes long.)

Update: An informative take on the process of selecting the committee chairs.