In the House: A Little More Respect

"I welcome you to the brotherhood of fiscal conservatism, and I assure you that the people on my side of the aisle will be doing our very best to pro vide you with many opportunities to put your vote where your campaign rhetoric was. Believe me, deviations will be noted."

With that bit of banter, Minority Leader John Rhodes last week made his usual gracious speech conceding the speakership to Thomas ("Tip") O'Neill. The Speaker hardly needed the reminder that he leads a chamber that is dedicated just as much as the Senate to reducing federal deficits and halting inflation. Notes Washington's Thomas Foley, chairman of the House Democratic Caucus: "The word liberal has fallen into disfavor." Republicans gained only eleven seats in the November elections, and the Democrats remain firmly in control, 276 to 157 (with two vacancies). Regardless of party, however, members are responding to the protests of a tax-and inflation-weary electorate. Says Willis Gradison, a moderate Republican from Cincinnati: "The whole House is more conservative. It's not so much a change in faces but the result of what we heard in November from the voters."

House members generally agree that the budget will be the main item of busi ness this session and that it should be as lean as possible. Even liberals acknowledge that the nation's problems do not appear to yield to money and to Government intervention. "We haven't had the pruning of the programs that don't work," admits Abner Mikva, a leading liberal Democrat who was re-elected from Chicago's North Shore suburbs by a scant 1,000 votes. "Because of that, all of Government is carrying a burden of presumed incompetence and inefficiency."

Fights will doubtless occur over which parts of the budget to trim. Probably the biggest clash will be on defense spending, which Carter wants to boost by 3% in real dollars. Exercising more influence in the Budget Committee than in the House as a whole, advocates of increased social spending may be able to prevent the hike in military spending. Says David Obey, a liberal Democrat from Wisconsin: "I am not going to tell old people that they have to bear a double load because our NATO allies need more money for defense."

House leaders on both sides of the aisle are deeply disturbed by the vulnerability of members to single-interest lobbies. "It's a lot more difficult to say no to anybody," says Obey, "because so many people have well-oiled mimeograph machines." These lobbies have grown more influential as campaigns have become more expensive. To relieve the pressure, the Democratic leadership is pushing for public financing of campaigns.

Despite the heralded reforms of 1974, the organization of the House has not changed all that much. Seniority, in fact, is making something of a comeback. It was the major factor in the selection of the new committee chairman this session. "If you had a fire drill," says Foley, "the members would line up in order of seniority--unless it's a very dangerous fire." Jamie Whitten, the conservative Mississippi Democrat who is known as the Father of the House because he has served longest in the chamber (37 years), easily beat back an attempt by liberals to block his ascent to chairmanship of the Appropriations Committee. After several years of unruly fragmentation, House leaders have been startled as well as pleased to hear new members ask during debates at party caucuses: "What is the position of the leadership?"

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