Minority gets heave-ho in House

Inter Lake editorial

So much for having an effective minority in the U.S. House of Representatives to temper the worst inclinations of the governing majority.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has rammed through new procedural rules that will, among other things, eliminate term limits for committee chair positions and eliminate a provision that allowed minority members to 'recommit" bills back to committees for amendments.

With a 257-178 Democratic advantage, House Republicans have been reduced to mere noisemakers in the Capitol. But since that's the case, they should make a concerted effort to be a very noisy minority indeed, to at least draw attention to the flaws and consequences of the Democratic agenda.

Congress is, after all, on the brink of going on the biggest spending spree in history and all appropriations bills originate in the House. The only way to curb excess amidst all of that spending is for GOP members to point it out with the hope that Democrats will show some modesty and restraint to avoid embarrassment.

The Republican leadership sounded off its opposition to the rule changes this week, pointing out that the term limits on committee chairs and motions to recommit were adopted in 1995 as reforms to make Congress more open and transparent.

The new rules, they said, will revert the House "back to the undemocratic one-part rule and backroom deals that the American public rejected more than a decade ago."

The minority went on to predict that the changes "will entrench a handful of members of the House in positions of permanent power" and that eliminating motions to recommit will "further 'shut] down free and open debate on the House floor by refusing to allow all members the opportunity to offer substantive alternatives to important legislation."

And the minority already contends that the last Congress "was the worst in history when it came to having a free and open debate on the issues."

That was the opinion of Montana's lone congressman, Republican Denny Rehberg, when he visited the Inter Lake last year. He said the Democratic leadership had already made procedural changes to restrict the ability of Republicans to alter legislation.

This is not the time for the House to turn into a parlor of tricks aimed at avoiding scrutiny. Democrats should welcome some degree of shared ownership in whatever comes out of the House. Otherwise, only their fingerprints will be on the worst of it.