The Continuing GOP Meltdown

AT THEIR weekly meeting on April 22, Republican senators’ legislative directors received their marching orders: they were to expect a cloture vote on immigration and then “stall” for the rest of the week. For many present, it was a low point in a month in which it had become painfully clear that despite having a majority in both houses of Congress, Republicans were unable to set the national agenda. Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole was “listless and detached” in meetings, recalls one Senate aide.

But that was before Sen. Phil Gramm and Speaker Newt Gingrich raised the issue of a 4.3-cent gas-tax cut. Dole started to demand that any increase in the minimum wage be linked to the cut and to labor-law reform. “For the first time in a long time . . . Dole was aggressive and focused,” says the aide. Dole wasn’t the only one. Republicans were on the offensive again.

About the Author

Kate O'Beirne

About the Author

Ramesh Ponnuru

Ramesh Ponnuru is the editor of National Review, a columnist for the Washington Post, and a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

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AT THEIR weekly meeting on April 22, Republican senators’ legislative directors received their marching orders: they were to expect a cloture vote on immigration and then “stall” for the rest of the week. For many present, it was a low point in a month in which it had become painfully clear that despite having a majority in both houses of Congress, Republicans were unable to set the national agenda. Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole was “listless and detached” in meetings, recalls one Senate aide.

But that was before Sen. Phil Gramm and Speaker Newt Gingrich raised the issue of a 4.3-cent gas-tax cut. Dole started to demand that any increase in the minimum wage be linked to the cut and to labor-law reform. “For the first time in a long time . . . Dole was aggressive and focused,” says the aide. Dole wasn’t the only one. Republicans were on the offensive again.