What the Hell is Happening on Capitol Hill?

Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

The recent string of explosions on Capitol Hill have been nothing short of mesmerizing. The FBI raids a Democratic congressional office; the Republicans explode. Democratic factions explode at the party leadership. Democrats and Republicans explode at the Justice Department. ABC News drops a bombshell on House Speaker Dennis Hastert; Hastert explodes at ABC. The Justice Department explodes at ABC. The Justice Department explodes at Hastert.

The House has always been a volatile place, compared to the genteel Senate. But it’s becoming apparent that these explosions aren’t the usual sort — measured eruptions calculated to generate maximum political leverage, i.e. outrage at the House cafeteria for serving “French” fries.

Instead, they look like a pot, once quietly simmering, suddenly boiling over. The House, it seems, is officially out of control. What caused this?

First, the stage was set: Republicans were already in their own chaos after having lost a charismatic leader (Tom DeLay) and the political chains which once tied them more or less uniformly to the White House. Add to that successive scandals, which have pushed poll numbers for some of their “safe” seats into the red zone — or is it the blue zone? — leading many in the party to worry they will lose control of the House.

Democrats, who should be placing advance orders for champagne and cigars and slapping each other on the back, are instead a disorganized crew (what else is new?) wrestling with the fact that a good number of them do not like their leader, Nancy Pelosi, who could soon become a lot more powerful. The Congressional Black Caucus appears to be in open revolt, while other members have simply ignored her attempts at organization.

Add to this the quiet crescendo of Justice Department investigations — into Cunningham, Abramoff, Jefferson, Mollohan, the NSA leak — that are leading directly into the offices of lawmakers and their staff. It’s becoming clear that these probes are more extensive, and touch more people, than previously expected. Buried in a Wall Street Journal story today was this telling detail:

For many lawmakers, the [Abramoff] investigation seems to be moving from the most egregious practices of a few members to criminalizing some basic fund-raising and lobbying techniques. “There is widespread belief on the Hill that the Justice Department is out of control with this idea that campaign contributions equals bribery,” noted one Republican close to the caucus.

So far, those probes have tended to stay mostly out of public view, as House lawyers bickered with Justice lawyers about what subpoenas they wouldn’t comply with. It seemed that House members still controlled their fate. When the FBI raided Rep. William Jefferson’s (D-LA) office, it was a slap in the face to all the members: what happens next may not be up to you.

It should have been no secret to those on the Hilll that Hastert — and the 30-plus other members who did legislative favors for Jack Abramoff and his clients — would draw at least a passing query from the Justice Department. But as long as they were asked quietly and off the front pages, the situation was manageable.

The FBI raid and ABC’s Hastert story portend a terrible future for sitting members: a network of probes they know to be widespread could at any moment burst into public view. Their recalcitrance from cooperating could prompt the FBI to raid their offices, or their names might be leaked to the press. Less than six months from an election, that’s a terrifying prospect — either one could spell g-a-m-e o-v-e-r.

I’d probably boil over, too.

Latest Muckraker
Comments
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Associate Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: