It doesn’t happen often, but Bob Novak actually wrote a terrific column today, highlighting the injustice that led Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) to lose his position as chairman of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee.
During an official Fourth of July celebration at the U.S. Capitol, Rep. Chris Smith of New Jersey and Secretary of Veterans Affairs Jim Nicholson bumped into each other. They are both steadfast Republicans, devout Catholics and congenial gentlemen, but to onlookers, it looked like an uneasy encounter. That’s because Smith was right about a $2.6 billion shortfall in veterans benefits, and Nicholson’s Bush administration was wrong.
Being right can hurt in Washington. It drove Smith out of the House Veterans Affairs Committee chairmanship, and it now may cost him becoming International Relations chairman. Nicholson represents an administration that operates on the principle that being in power means never having to admit being wrong. There is no sign of any Bush official or House Republican leader apologizing to Smith.
That’s surprisingly strong language for Novak, but it also happens to be completely accurate. Smith had been saying for months that the Bush administration was wildly wrong in budgeting for the needs of veterans’ health care benefits this year, while Secretary Nicholson was arguing that Smith was off base.
In the end, Nicholson was wrong and Smith was right, but Smith was the one who was punished. He put veterans’ concerns over Republican concerns, so DeLay took his gavel away.
Smith’s problem has been failing to salute smartly when the leadership gives an order. That is the demand of Tom DeLay, the most effective majority leader in my 45 years of House-watching. DeLay found it intolerable that Smith functioned not as an obedient Republican soldier but as a fervent advocate of former U.S. foot soldiers. At the end of the last Congress, the DeLay-headed leadership purged Smith from the Veterans chairmanship and from the committee itself for wanting $2.6 billion more for the Veterans Administration.
So Republicans gave Smith the boot, even though Nicholson got caught with ridiculous cost estimates and Congress had to scramble with an emergency appropriations bill to fund veterans’ needs. How much did the administration need? $2.6 billion.
What a coincidence.