Colleagues fear Inouye may get rolled by Obey

Senators are wondering if Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii), the new chairman of the Appropriations Committee, has the moxie to stand firm with his House counterpart, Rep. David Obey (D-Wis.).

As lawmakers begin drafting the all-too-important spending measures, questions have surfaced as to whether the soft-spoken and humble Inouye, a respected World War II veteran, has what it takes to fill the shadows left by past senators who have wielded the powerful gavel.

{mosads}Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) and former Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) had reputations for being shrewd players behind the scenes, while Inouye is regarded as one of the nicest members of Congress.

At the same time, the most senior Republican on the committee has suggested all Senate appropriators — including Inouye — have lost clout in recent years, as leadership has moved to pass more sweeping omnibus spending measures and fewer appropriations bills.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) also handled the last-minute negotiations over the $787 billion stimulus package, a fact that hasn’t gone unnoticed.

“We’ll see what happens this summer, but I don’t think anyone is expecting Inouye to turn into a dynamo,” said a Democratic leadership aide.

“On the other hand, Inouye can be very effective in an understated way, but he’s not Byrd in his prime.”

Obey, or “Mount Obey,” as colleagues sometimes call the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee in private, is known for blowing his top at lawmakers and reporters alike.

But the Wisconsin Democrat is hardly looking past his Senate counterpart.

“People underestimate Inouye because he’s quiet,” said Kirstin Brost, Obey’s spokeswoman. “Too many senators are too convinced by their own spin. They forget he’s a soldier. He doesn’t carry a bullhorn, but he’s not afraid to march into fire.

“This is a guy who continued to throw grenades with his left arm after his right arm was shattered by a grenade,” Brost added, making reference to Inouye’s decorated service in Italy and France during World War II. “You don’t see tough like that on the Hill.”

Nonetheless, concerns flared earlier this year when what was expected to be routine passage of the $410 billion omnibus appropriations bill turned into a nasty extended fight.

Democratic leaders were forced to pull the legislation off the floor after two Democrats, Sens. Evan Bayh (Ind.) and Russ Feingold (Wis.), defected unexpectedly.

One lawmaker expressed frustration that Bayh and Feingold slammed the bill after appropriators “bent over backwards” to include some of their priorities. Such a rebellion took appropriators, who have learned to expect greater deference, by surprise.

{mospagebreak}The Appropriations panel, along with Finance, was long considered one of the two most powerful in the Senate.

For years, either Byrd or Stevens, two of the most outspoken and headstrong members of the Senate, sat atop the Appropriations committee, taking turns with the gavel depending on which party was in power.

Byrd, who served a decade as Senate Democratic leader, was known for quoting Cicero, waving a small copy of the Constitution on the floor and scolding any colleague who dared curtail Congress’s “power of the purse.” Stevens wore an Incredible Hulk tie when the chamber debated spending bills.

{mosads}One Democratic member of the Appropriations Committee said he is waiting to see how Inouye stacks up against Obey and other rivals.

“We’re going to find out how much Sen. Stevens and Sen. Byrd are missed in the appropriations process,” he said. “This is the first time in a long time that those two have not been very involved in the process.”

But the appropriator expressed cautious optimism: “He has a different style than Obey, but I’m not saying that it’s either better or worse. I’ll say Inouye will more than hold his own.”

Appropriators acknowledge the committee’s power has waned in recent years after Byrd’s health declined and Stevens stepped down from the senior Republican position because of term limits.

Sen. Thad Cochran (Miss.), the senior Republican on Appropriations, said the panel has lost some power relative to the House because the Senate now only passes a few appropriations bills per year.

As a result, most spending bills drafted by the Senate panel get balled up into a year-end omnibus bill negotiated in large part by the Democratic leadership. Instead of Senate and House appropriators negotiating the finer points of each bill separately, the leadership ends up crafting the broad outlines of spending priorities.

In 2007, the Senate passed only seven regular appropriations bills while the House passed 12 spending measures. In 2006, the Senate passed only three bills to the House’s 10. (Last year, the House passed one regular spending bill while the Senate failed to approve any.)

Cochran said that House appropriators have enjoyed leverage during conference talks in recent years because their bills have often received approval by an entire chamber while the Senate’s bills have only received committee consideration.

Cochran said Reid should allow the committee to reclaim its authority by bringing spending bills to the floor.

“We’ve been doing our work but then [the leader] won’t call our bills up [to the floor],” he said.

But Cochran acknowledged that the Appropriations Committee may not wield the same clout with the leadership that it did in past years.

{mospagebreak}“No matter how hard we push, if the leader decides not to do something, we don’t have the power to make him do something,” he said.

Reid flexed his muscle on spending issues earlier this year when he took over negotiations of the $787 billion economic stimulus package, chopping off more than $100 billion in spending to attract the support of centrist Senate Republicans.

{mosads}Cochran said he expected Inouye would attempt to reclaim some power by pressing Reid to bring spending bills to the floor for individual consideration.

Senate Democratic aides say that is Reid’s goal but that he has not made a commitment to Inouye to do so.

Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-N.Y.), a member of the House Appropriations Committee, said that his chamber may have an advantage because of its strong leader.

“The situation with the Senate is that it’s a little weaker,” he said. “It seems like it would be a little weaker.

“Obey is in a class by himself — he’s the best that can be,” Hinchey said.

But Hinchey checked himself by predicting the Senate would find its footing.

“The Senate has very competent people, and when they step in it, there probably will not be a difference.”