Rules chairman calls Speaker Boehner the key to a more open majority
This time, Rep. David Dreier (R-Calif.) says, it’s going to be different.
With the Rules Committee gavel back in his hands after four years in the minority, Dreier said the new House majority is going to be more transparent and respectful of Democrats’ rights in the lower chamber.
{mosads}Dreier has been on the Rules Committee for two decades, serving as the panel’s top ranking Republican for the last dozen years. He acknowledges that in the Tom DeLay era, the House majority didn’t care terribly much about allowing Democrats the ability to offer amendments.
The difference now, Dreier said in an interview with The Hill, is that Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio) is Speaker.
When he headed the Rules panel between 1998 and 2006, Dreier said he went head to head with committee chairmen who insisted that their bills go to the floor without amendments.
On more than a few occasions, Dreier, the son of a former Marine drill sergeant, had to quietly take orders from higher-ranking leadership members.
There was one committee head, Dreier said, who wasn’t so protective of his legislation. That was Boehner, who at the time led the Education and Workforce Committee panel.
“From his experience as a committee chairman, Speaker Boehner has an understanding, an appreciation for encouraging greater member participation,” Dreier said.
He added, “For me, it’s just music to my ears because of the fact that I always wanted to have more open rules … and I get the sense now that we’re going to have more of it.”
A review of news articles supports Dreier’s assessment that he pushed for more openness back then. He says wistfully, “I wasn’t always successful.”
Democrats are highly skeptical that Republicans will keep their promises on transparency, pointing out they were not allowed to offer amendments to the GOP’s healthcare repeal bill earlier this month.
Sitting in front of a warm fireplace in his large committee office, Dreier clearly relishes his role on Boehner’s leadership team.
“I think the Rules Committee is by far the best committee in the Congress because it is really ground zero for everything that goes on here,” Dreier said, noting that nearly all legislation must clear his panel before being debated on the House floor.
Unlike other panels, the Rules Committee chairman is selected by the Speaker. Dreier’s knowledge of the intricacies of House rules and ability to read the political winds made Boehner’s selection a no-brainer.
Boehner on Wednesday told The Hill, “[Dreier] is a good man with a lot of experience and someone that I think highly of.”
During a meeting of committee chairmen last week, Dreier emphasized, “as they go through the legislative process in their committees, that they need to be prepared to be open to an amendment process that might change the bill as the House works its will.”
He says the role of the Rules Committee is “twofold: to move the agenda and to do it in the fairest most balanced way possible — and it’s in that order.”
Dreier won’t commit to open rules for every bill, saying that structure would give Democrats the ability to filibuster by amendment.
In the last Congress, Dreier said, it was the first time in the House’s 221-year history that not one piece of legislation was considered under an open-amendment process.
The California lawmaker is an effective debater on the House floor, famous on Capitol Hill for his biting quips that are usually delivered with a smile.
Some Democrats would call it a smirk, but Dreier maintains it’s not personal.
“The idea of getting into these really, really, nasty, personal, bitter exchanges is, to me, very distasteful. That doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t continue to have a really vigorous clash of ideas,” Dreier said, invoking the words of James Madison.
Dreier says he always tries to treat his political adversaries with respect.
He usually starts out a debate with some pleasantries, then swiftly pivots, seeking to shred his opponents’ arguments into pieces.
Rep. Rob Bishop (R-Utah), a Rules committee colleague, said, “I probably found him to be one of the most glib and articulate members who have ever been here.”
His relationship with Rules Committee ranking member Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.) has long been contentious. In 2006, she publicly called Dreier “a prick.” For his part, Dreier says he hopes that his relationship with her improves, but others on Capitol Hill are highly doubtful.
The tension between the two makes for fascinating theater on the House floor.
Told that his debates with Slaughter are entertaining, Dreier responded, “You’re not the first person to say that.”
Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-Calif.), who worked extensively with Dreier as Appropriations Committee chairman, said, “He’s become a student of the rules of the House, and as the leader of the Rules committee he reflects the leaderships’ interests very well, and because of that, nobody’s even suggested that he should ever leave the job.”
Dreier grew up in the Midwest and took an early liking to politics. As a child, he memorized parts of John F. Kennedy’s inauguration speech, which was delivered 50 years ago this month.
At 28 years old, in 1980, Dreier was elected to the House, along with President Reagan.
Dreier will head to California this weekend to the Reagan library for a celebration of Reagan’s 100th birthday, as will other members of his class past and present. Fellow classmates still serving in Congress include GOP Reps. Frank Wolf (Va.), Chris Smith (N.J.), Ralph Hall (Texas) and Hal Rogers (Ky.), and Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Pat Roberts (R-Kan.)
During a nearly hour-long interview, Dreier talked at length about the history of the House, ranging from a brawl on the chamber’s floor in 1858 to when a journalist shot and killed a member 32 years later.
One thing that stands out in his office is an antique-looking pinball machine that has served for years as an ice-breaker for international leaders.
“It’s been a really interesting conversation piece. Our scores went up dramatically in the minority. So if anyone transcends the 513,382 that is up there now, they are not doing their job,” Dreier said with a laugh.
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