The Majority Leader's War

PRESIDENT BUSH was in a pleading mood. The occasion was his weekly White House breakfast with congressional leaders. His remarks were pointed at Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle. Please don't load up the defense appropriations bill with billions of extra spending for "homeland security," as Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia was proposing. I'll have to veto it, Bush said. He said that three times. These were the strongest words Bush has uttered at any of the breakfasts.

Around that time--late November--Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld briefed all 100 senators on the course of the war on terrorism at a closed-door meeting at the Capitol. "How can we help you?" a senator asked. Don't lard the defense bill with "pork," Rumsfeld answered. That brought groans from the audience of senators.

Daschle may have been one of those groaning. In any event, he didn't honor Rumsfeld's (and Bush's) request. Bush's insistence that more than enough had already been appropriated was ignored. So was his appeal for the Senate to wait until Tom Ridge puts together a homeland security plan early next year. Byrd, unrestrained, went ahead, devoting two weeks to pushing for more spending. First he wanted $20 billion, then $15 billion, then it was cut to $7.5 billion before returning to $15 billion. In the end, Byrd and Democrats got zero as Senate Republicans blocked the added spending on procedural grounds.

The episode was illuminating about how Daschle functions as wartime majority leader. He takes a minimalist approach. He has lavish praise ("spectacular," "great") for Bush's performance in the war on terrorism and he's strongly backed Bush's war agenda. He delivered quick Senate approval of the counterterrorism bill, "use of force" resolution, $40 billion supplemental appropriation, airline bailout, and aviation security bill. "The president and I have worked as closely together as I've worked with anybody over the last several years," Daschle said on "Meet the Press." "We've done all of those pieces the Bush administration has indicated were important to this country and the agenda in the aftermath of September 11."

Not quite. Daschle feels obligated to work with Bush only on matters directly connected to the war effort. How about on matters Bush says are war-related but many Democrats claim aren't sufficiently related? That's another story. On these--the energy bill, say, or terrorism insurance--Daschle is anything but bipartisan. In fact, he has fiercely opposed Bush and has prevented other Democrats from pursuing bipartisan agreements. And instead of bringing up legislation sought by Bush for a vote before adjourning this week, Daschle substituted the railroad retirement and farm bills. Neither is time sensitive, but both are important to Democratic constituencies.

Since September 11, Daschle has intervened to upset bipartisan cooperation on the energy, terrorism insurance, and economic stimulus bills. Bush says the energy measure, and especially its provision for oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), is critical to national security. "The less dependent we are on foreign sources of crude oil, the more secure we are at home," the president declared. Yet when at least two Democrats--Senators Daniel Akaka of Hawaii and Mary Landrieu of Louisiana--were prepared to back ANWR drilling, Daschle removed the bill from the energy committee and took personal charge of it. His excuse was that the bill was divisive and would prompt a time-consuming filibuster. Of course the bill is also the bane of the environmental lobby, a Democratic constituency bent on protecting ANWR from oil companies.

On terrorism insurance, a deal had been negotiated by Democrats Paul Sarbanes of Maryland, the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, and Chris Dodd of Connecticut, and Republican Phil Gramm of Texas. Daschle annulled their agreement because it barred punitive damages in lawsuits involving acts of terrorism--damages taxpayers might ultimately have to pay. Limits on damages are anathema to trial lawyers, a group that generously funds Democratic candidates.

On the stimulus bill, Daschle kept Democrat Max Baucus, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, from drafting legislation with Republican input. Not surprisingly, the resulting bill left off Bush's top priority for juicing the economy, acceleration of income tax rate reductions slated over the next five years. And despite Bush's willingness to restrict a rate reduction to middle-class taxpayers, Daschle objects to any cut in personal rates at all, in effect blocking a bipartisan economic stimulus.