Preliminary post-election outlook

By Joe Raeder

Family Farm Alliance

Washington , D.C. Representative  

            Democratic control of the House and the Senate will result in significant changes to the makeup and agendas of the committees that oversee Western water policy and the federal natural resources agencies, but the exact nature and extent of those changes won’t be fully known for several weeks.    

            Members of Congress elected November 7 won’t take office until January, when the 110^th Congress convenes with a narrow Democratic majority in the House and a razor-thin majority in the Senate.  Between now and then, both parties will elect their leaders, choose committee chairman, assign new and returning Members to committees and layout their legislative and oversight agendas.  

            In the meantime, the Republican-controlled 109^th Congress will return to work on Monday, Nov. 13, to finish up FY 07 appropriations bills and other matters in a lame duck session.  The federal government is currently operating under a temporary funding authority (“continuing resolution”) that expires Nov. 17, and Congress must either enact regular appropriations bills (10 remain to be done), package all the remaining funding measures into a single omnibus bill or extend the continuing resolution until next year.  

            The Republican leadership in the House and Senate said before the elections that they planned for Congress to be in session during the week of Nov. 13, adjourn for Thanksgiving and then return in early December to finish remaining appropriations bills and other business.  The day after the election, however, it is unclear if that plan is still viable.  

            Following such a hard-fought election, it’s possible that neither Republicans nor the Democrats will have any interest in remaining in Washington until December.  Instead, they may return to extend the continuing resolution into next year and adjourn.  On the other hand, a number of energy, tax and health care issues of interest to both parties await final action, and some Members want time to finish them.  

           An agenda and schedule for the lame duck session is expected within a week after Members return to work.  

            Committees:  Along with control of the House, Democrats will claim the chairmanship of committees and subcommittees and enlarge their membership on those panels.  Former Republican chairs will move into the “Ranking Minority Member” positions, and some GOP members will be bumped off their committees as the number of Republican positions is reduced.  

            At this point, it’s not possible to say with certainty who the new Democratic committee chairs will be.  Chairmanships and assignments are determined in large part by seniority, but that is not the only factor taken into consideration.  Also, some Members may choose to switch to other committees when the new Congress convenes.  Aside from choosing chairmen, House Democrats may rename and re-arrange committees and their jurisdictions, as did the Republicans when they took over in 1995.  Typically, it takes both parties until the end of January to complete the organization of their committee assignments for a new Congress.  

            With that in mind, the following breakdown of presumed House Democratic chairmanships and Republican Ranking Member assignments on key natural resources committees should be considered preliminary.   

            House Resources:     Ranking Democrat Nick Rahall (WV) is expected to take over the Chairmanship from outgoing Chair Richard Pombo (CA), who was defeated.  The likely senior Republican on the committee will be either Jim Saxton (DE), a proponent of wildlife protection, or Elton Gallegly (CA).   The Water and Power Subcommittee Chair will likely be Grace Napolitano of Los Angeles , with former Chairman George Radanovich (CA) moving over to be the Ranking Republican on the panel  

            House Transportation and Infrastructure:   This committee has jurisdiction over Corps of Engineers projects and polices and the Clean Water Act.  Senior Democrat James Oberstar (MN) is likely to be the Chairman, with outgoing Republican Chairman Don Young (AK) becoming the Ranking Member. 

            House Appropriations:  Dave Obey (WI) is expected to assume the Chairmanship, with outgoing Chairman Jerry Lewis (CA) becoming the Ranking Republican.  On the Energy and Water Development Subcommittee, which funds the Bureau of Reclamation and the Corps, the likely Chairman is Peter Visclosky (IN).  Outgoing Chairman David Hobson (OH) would be the presumed Ranking Member on the Subcommittee.

The shuffling of Senate chairmanships has already begun.  

Senate Environment and Public Works:  This committee has jurisdiction over the Corps and major environmental laws, including the Clean Water Act and the Endangered Species Act.  Republican James Inhofe (OK) will be replaced by Barbara Boxer (CA). Under the Democrats, Hillary Clinton (NY) is expected to Chair the Fisheries, Wildlife and Water Subcommittee currently led by Lincoln Chafee (RI), who was defeated. Sen. Boxer, and her new House counterpart, Rep. James Oberstar (D-MN), who is expected to chair the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, have said that they plan to work on a legislative "fix" to the uncertainty in Clean Water Act regulation caused by the court decision on Rapanos v. United States and Carabell v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.  Both of the presumed committee chairs also plan to make passage of a WRDA bill a priority next year if Congress doesn't enact one in the lame duck session.  (See attached articles.)

Sen. Dianne Feinstein may be in line to assume the chairmanship of the Senate Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee, which funds the Corps and the Bureau of Reclamation.  The Senator is currently the senior Democrat on the Military Construction Appropriations Subcommittee, but could move over to take the top spot on the Energy and Water because the current senior Democrat there, Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV), will become Majority Leader.

                       Senate Energy and Natural Resources:  New Mexico Republican Pete Domenici would cede the Chairmanship to fellow New Mexico Senator Jeff Bingaman if the Democrats prevail.   The Chairmanship of the Water and Power Subcommittee could be expected to move to Byron Dorgan (ND), with outgoing Chair Lisa Murkowski (AK) moving to the Ranking Member slot.

                       Senate Appropriations:  Republican Thad Cochran (MS) will remain as Chairman if the Democrats don’t take over.  If they do, Ranking Democrat Robert Byrd (WV) will move into the Chairmanship, assuming control from Thad Cochran (MS).  The new Energy and Water Development Subcommittee chair is expected to be Harry Reid (NV).

            Democratic committee agendas:   The new Democratic House committee chairs will develop their specific policy goals and agendas over the next several weeks.  But in general, the Democratic-controlled committees of the 110^th Congress are likely to focus less on new legislative initiatives than on conducting aggressive oversight of Bush Administration policies and actions.  Democratic environmental and natural resources initiatives may be previewed in the 110^th Congress, but a serious effort to move them forward will probably not be seen until after the 2008 presidential election.   

            After being on the defensive during 12 years of Republican control of the House, environmental organizations will likely move aggressively to influence the agendas of the natural resources committees.  However, their efforts will be hampered, at least in the short term, by the Bush Administration and by the relatively small Democratic majority in the House and a nearly evenly divided Senate.

            Democratic control of the Congress will have a significant effect on the Administration’s regulatory and policy agenda, which will be subject to oversight and perhaps investigation by Democratic committee leaders who also control the appropriations process.  Bush Administration initiatives, such as ESA regulatory reform, may be blocked or driven off the agenda.  

On the House side, outgoing House Resources Committee Chairman Richard Pombo (R-CA) has said that he would like to make a run at enacting his ESA reform bill during the upcoming lame duck session.  Environmental organizations are touting the defeat of Rep. Pombo as a major victory, and they are holding it out as a warning to other Members not to attempt legislative overhauls of major environmental laws such as the ESA, NEPA and the Clean Water Act.