Letter from Washington

Oh, the frustrations of being a House Republican. Since 1930, the GOP has controlled the House for just six years; the last time was when it held a slim, 221 to 213 majority during the first two years of Eisenhower’s Presidency. An old hand like Bob Michel, the House Minority Leader, can grouse that he’s probably the only party leader in the history of Congress who doesn’t know what it’s like to chair a committee.

House Republicans have been the Rodney Dangerfields of American politics—they get no respect, not only from Democrats but even from other Republicans. House Republicans still smart at the memory of 1985, when the Reagan White House treated them like poor cousins, carving out a deficittrimming budget agreement with Senate Republicans without consulting the lower chamber. Things have gotten better under George Bush, himself a former House Republican, but still . . .

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House of Representatives

Oh, the frustrations of being a House Republican. Since 1930, the GOP has controlled the House for just six years; the last time was when it held a slim, 221 to 213 majority during the first two years of Eisenhower’s Presidency. An old hand like Bob Michel, the House Minority Leader, can grouse that he’s probably the only party leader in the history of Congress who doesn’t know what it’s like to chair a committee.

House Republicans have been the Rodney Dangerfields of American politics—they get no respect, not only from Democrats but even from other Republicans. House Republicans still smart at the memory of 1985, when the Reagan White House treated them like poor cousins, carving out a deficittrimming budget agreement with Senate Republicans without consulting the lower chamber. Things have gotten better under George Bush, himself a former House Republican, but still . . .