Reid touts equal share of power in Senate

Benjamin Grove

Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2000 | 11:15 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., is pushing a historic power-sharing plan for the Senate next year.

Nevada's influential senior senator wants an equal number of Republicans and Democrats on the Senate's 22 committees, which now have more GOP members than Democrats because the full Senate is Republican-controlled.

But if a recount does not change the result in Washington state, the new Senate that convenes in January will have 50 Republicans and 50 Democrats -- a tie not seen since 1881 -- and committees should reflect that, Reid said.

"I don't know if we can get that through, but we'll certainly try hard. We have to convince the Republicans.

"It's 50-50. It's a pretty easy argument to make."

Senate Democrats also say each committee should have two co-chairmen, one from each party.

That would give a chairmanship and even more political muscle to Reid, the Senate's No. 2 Democratic leader. Next year Reid becomes the highest-ranking Democrat by seniority on the Environment and Public Works Committee.

Reid already wields power in the Senate as the minority whip, responsible for lining up Democrats for votes. He also sits on the Appropriations, Indian Affairs, Ethics and Special Aging committees.

But Reid covets more influence on Environment and Public Works because the committee authorizes highway and other transportation projects, endangered species lists and clean water legislation. It also has jurisdiction over land use and air quality issues as well as the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, a key player in a proposal to ship nuclear waste to Nevada for permanent burial.

Reid has a number of priorities for the committee: cleaning up former industrial site "brownfields," providing consumers with more information on bottled water and overseeing a Florida Everglades restoration project.

Reid recently hired Eric Washburn, a seasoned congressional staffer and top aide of Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., to be his point man on the committee. Reid has not yet met with the committee chairman, Sen. Robert Smith, R-N.H., to hammer out goals for the year.

"We'll have to see," Reid said.

Reid and Daschle already have pitched the power-sharing proposal to Republicans, who are cool to the idea. Republicans have enjoyed Senate control in recent years, and there is no indication they would embrace an unprecedented power-sharing arrangement.

Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., has said little on the issue since the election but likely will address it when he returns to Washington next week, a Lott spokesman said today.

This year the GOP held a 55-45 majority, which means committees were controlled by a Republican chairman and made up of a Republican majority. For example, the powerful Appropriations Committee, led by Chairman Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, had 15 Republicans and 13 Democrats.

Party leaders likely won't debate the plan until the presidential election controversy is settled and the Senate race in Washington.

The dust settled on that battle last week. Vote counts revealed Washington Democrat Maria Cantwell narrowly defeated Republican incumbent Slade Gorton, pending a machine recount that could be completed this week.

One other caveat: If Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., were to become vice president under Al Gore, he would lose his Senate seat, and Republican Connecticut Gov. John Rowland likely would appoint a Republican replacement, leaving the Senate tilted to the GOP, 51-49. In the Senate, the vice president breaks tie votes.

Elsewhere in the Senate, Nevada's Sen.-elect John Ensign, a Republican, is hiring a staff and preparing for a two-day orientation for new senators next week. That's when Republicans and Democrats make final committee assignments.

Ensign is vying for spots on the Finance, Commerce, Banking, Armed Services or Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee, newly hired Ensign chief of staff Scott Bensing said. The Finance Committee is a long shot, with other senators competing for seats on the panel, Bensing said.

Ensign hopes to assemble a staff of about 18 in Washington, seven for his Las Vegas office, five in Reno and one or two in Carson City, Bensing said. He hired KLAS Channel 8 news reporter Traci Scott to be his media spokeswoman in Washington and Sonia Joya to be his state director in Las Vegas. Joya held a similar job when Ensign was a congressman.

Ensign will be sworn in Jan. 3. He replaces Sen. Richard Bryan, D-Nev., who is retiring from the Senate after 12 years.