It’s a shame it’s only available online to subscribers, but Roll Call has a fascinating item today about congressional Republicans and their growing frustration with the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue. Apparently, GOP lawmakers are anxious to advance their own agenda (pushing conservative bills, prodding Dems, presenting new ideas), but something keeps getting in the way — namely, the Bush administration.
When a group of Senate GOP leaders assembled before the microphones last Thursday to crow about their defeat of Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-Nev.) Iraq resolution, they thought they had a shot at finally getting out in front of a winning issue this Congress.
But just as soon as their faces met the bright lights of the cameras, BlackBerrys began to buzz with breaking news e-mails reporting that White House aide Karl Rove was being implicated in the widening U.S. attorney-firing scandal.
“There goes the news cycle,” one Republican staffer thought to himself.
Republicans on the Hill believe there are occasional opportunities to score some political points, particularly on the war in Iraq. I’m not at all sure they’re right — public opinion seems much more in line with Dems — but the Bush gang’s fiascos won’t let them find out.
Roll Call reported, “Every time they think they have turned a critical public relations corner on Capitol Hill, they find themselves back in the unpleasant position of having to deal with the latest White House snafu. And, at least privately, many GOP Senators and aides say they’ve hit their boiling point.”
On a scale of one to 10, “The level of frustration is at an 11,” offered one Senate Republican aide.
I’m hardly in a position to feel sorry for them, but it’s fair to say congressional Republicans have had it rough for nearly three years now. The 109th Congress was a disaster for the ages, forcing them into the minority. Since the elections, they’ve had to endure a string of White House scandals (Walter Reed, Scooter Libby, FBI national security letters, the prosecutor purge), coupled with a very unpopular war, compounded by a very unpopular “surge.”
You wouldn’t know it, but Republicans have been strategizing about unveiling new messages and agenda items. They’re practically desperate to get back on track. But just when it seems they’re ready, Bush screws it up for them.
For instance, before this week’s talk of subpoenas and resignations, Republican Senators were basking in their victory last week to prevent Democrats from winning a simple majority of support on their proposal to withdraw troops from Iraq.
“We are not throwing ourselves on the grenade for them anymore,” said the leadership staffer. “There’s now an attitude of ‘you created this mess, you’ve got to get yourself out of it.'”
One case in point, Republicans said, was Tuesday’s overwhelming Senate vote to limit the attorney general’s authority to appoint interim U.S. attorneys without Senate confirmation. The 94-2 vote underscored GOP dissatisfaction not only with the issue itself, but the way in which the White House has tried to manage what’s become a public relations nightmare, several GOP aides said.
“That vote was proof positive that ‘we’re carrying no more of your water,'” said yet another Senate Republican aide, adding: “We just hope they leave without doing any more damage.”
We’ll see. Republicans still seem inclined to reflexively defend Bush, but that’s probably more habit than anything else. He’s going to Texas in two years, while they have careers to consider, so those habits can change.
I’m not convinced these guys are done carrying his water — every Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee opposes subpoenas for White House aides — but if they’re really as frustrated as they claim, Bush’s lame-duck presidency will do little but spin its wheels for the next two years.