The Poisoned Congress

The recent arrest of Senator Bob Packwood (R., Ore.) within the hallowed halls of Congress’s Upper Chamber signals an escalation from virulent partisan feuding into open war. It happened on February 24 in the early hours of the morning. Frustrated by Republican-led filibustering against a measure calling for campaign finance reform, Majority Leader Robert Byrd seized upon obscure Senate rules allowing the Sergeant-at-Arms to compel absent senators to come to the Senate floor. Byrd’s motion to nab the Republicans passed 45 to 3, and the Senate police quickly fanned out, armed with warrants for the arrest of all 46 Republican senators. Several empty offices were checked before the first senator—Steve Symms of Idaho —was spotted. But the fleet-footed Symms eluded his would-be captors. Packwood was not so lucky. Because a cleaning woman ratted on him, the Sergeant-at-Arms and two aides caught the hapless Packwood hiding in his office. They forced the door, wrestled him under control, and brought him to the Senate floor. Despite the good-natured joshing over Packwood’s arrest —he and the Sergeant-at-Arms held a news conference the following day and largely tried to laugh off the incident —it reflects an increasingly bitter mood on the Hill.

One reason, of course, is perennial (actually quadrennial). Ever since Harry Truman was elected by running against the “do-nothing 80th Congress,” political strategists have tried to stage election-year confrontations within Congress between the party controlling the White House and its opposite number. And why not? Congress is highly visible, and while both presidential tickets slug it out on the stump, too often the result there resembles a food fight: lots of slapstick, and no winners.

JM

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John McLaughlin

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The recent arrest of Senator Bob Packwood (R., Ore.) within the hallowed halls of Congress’s Upper Chamber signals an escalation from virulent partisan feuding into open war. It happened on February 24 in the early hours of the morning. Frustrated by Republican-led filibustering against a measure calling for campaign finance reform, Majority Leader Robert Byrd seized upon obscure Senate rules allowing the Sergeant-at-Arms to compel absent senators to come to the Senate floor. Byrd’s motion to nab the Republicans passed 45 to 3, and the Senate police quickly fanned out, armed with warrants for the arrest of all 46 Republican senators. Several empty offices were checked before the first senator—Steve Symms of Idaho —was spotted. But the fleet-footed Symms eluded his would-be captors. Packwood was not so lucky. Because a cleaning woman ratted on him, the Sergeant-at-Arms and two aides caught the hapless Packwood hiding in his office. They forced the door, wrestled him under control, and brought him to the Senate floor. Despite the good-natured joshing over Packwood’s arrest —he and the Sergeant-at-Arms held a news conference the following day and largely tried to laugh off the incident —it reflects an increasingly bitter mood on the Hill.

One reason, of course, is perennial (actually quadrennial). Ever since Harry Truman was elected by running against the “do-nothing 80th Congress,” political strategists have tried to stage election-year confrontations within Congress between the party controlling the White House and its opposite number. And why not? Congress is highly visible, and while both presidential tickets slug it out on the stump, too often the result there resembles a food fight: lots of slapstick, and no winners.