Dissension Among the Democrats

The controlling Democrats completed their task of organizing House committees last week, sweeping three South-era chairmen out of power in the process. This assault on the chamber's stultifying seniority system was designed to break down arbitrary barriers to legislation and enable the Democrats to deal more effectively with the economic crisis. Up to a point, it may do so. At the same time, however, a nasty non-ideological fight for personal prestige within the party threatens to disrupt the huge Democratic majority and impede the legislative pace.

That friction was not evident on the surface as the Democratic caucus, which consists of the party's entire House membership,* met for the second time in two weeks to decide who would lead four important committees. As expected, it reaffirmed its earlier rejection of Louisiana's F. Edward Hebert, 73, as chairman of the Armed Services Committee, replacing him with Illinois' Melvin Price, 70. Similarly, the caucus confirmed its removal of Texas' W.R. (Bob) Poage, 75, as head of the Agriculture Committee, naming instead Washington's Thomas S. Foley, 45. Both shifts should produce more responsive and less highhanded leadership. The elevation of the liberal Foley also could lead to an agricultural policy oriented more toward help for the impoverished users of food stamps and the nonaffluent grocery shopper than has been the case under the conservative Poage (see box).

Two Ballots. In the most contested race, the caucus reversed itself and approved an earlier recommendation by the party's Steering Committee that Wisconsin's Henry Reuss, 62, be named chairman of the Banking and Currency Committee. It took two ballots before Reuss won out over Texas' Wright Patman, 81, who had reigned supremely over the committee for twelve years. Both men are economic liberals opposed to overconcentration of power among large financial institutions, but Reuss clearly is more briskly competent than the aging Patman. The caucus at first was split, giving Reuss 130 votes to 90 for Patman and 58 for Georgia's Robert G. Stephens. But with Stephens eliminated, Reuss won easily.

Bully Tactics. The danger of party dissension loomed behind the bitter contest for control of the seemingly insignificant House Administration Committee. Ohio's abrasive Wayne Hays, 63, lobbied shrewdly to retain his chairmanship, turning back the belated challenge of New Jersey's Frank Thompson, 56. An able and tough-minded legislator far more interested in his second-ranking position on the Education and Labor Committee, Thompson ran against Hays only when other colleagues insisted that Hays' bullying tactics must be checked. Thompson had seemed to agree with one Democrat who said of the Administration Committee: "Who wants to be in charge of delivering the toilet paper to the House bathrooms?" But when Pennsylvania's John Dent, an ally of Hays, threatened that Thompson would lose his chairmanship of a subcommittee, the irate Thompson could not resist the challenge. Yet he lost, 161 to 111.

Actually, Hays has used the committee, which supervises all House employees and controls various personal comforts of House members, to expand his influence and further his ample ambition. He has arbitrarily fired various workers, terrorizing elevator operators, barbers and restaurant employees. In scrapping to retain his post, Hays promised to raise the per diem expense allowances for traveling Congressmen from $35 to $45. He has also used his chairmanship of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which dispenses campaign funds, to reward friends and browbeat enemies. He misled the 75 incoming freshmen by implying that he alone had been the source of the funds that helped elect them, even removing names of other party leaders from the letterhead of the Campaign Committee's stationery.

Tenuously allied with Hays in a drive for power is California's equally ambitious and canny Phillip Burton, 48, the newly elected chairman of the Democratic caucus. While each keeps a wary eye on the other, both are maneuvering to succeed Carl Albert as Speaker of the House. Albert last week lent new urgency to this jockeying by refusing to confirm--or deny--a public report that he intends to retire when his current term ends. Blocking the path of both Hays and Burton, however, is Massachusetts' Thomas ("Tip") O'Neill, the House majority leader. O'Neill has no intention of letting either challenger edge him out as heir apparent to Albert.

The rivalry between Burton and O'Neill has been especially intense. The two have fallen into at least two emotional quarrels. Burton on one occasion threatened to settle the matter with fists.

In this succession struggle, the adroit Burton is a less reliable ally than Hays may suspect. When the Steering Committee first voted to remove Hays as chairman of the Administration Committee, one of the secret votes to do that, TIME has learned, was cast by Burton. It was only when Burton sensed how alarmed many of the party's elder but still influential members were over this assault on seniority that Burton decided that his own future might be imperiled if he publicly joined the move against Hays. Burton then worked openly to help Hays keep his post.

The gulf between Hays and the party leaders was also widened when Albert last week summoned Hays and, with O'Neill at the Speaker's side, asked the Ohioan to resign his leadership of the Campaign Committee. Albert argued that Hays had become too controversial to be an effective fund raiser. Hays angrily refused, but the touchy matter is far from settled.

A Target. Although victorious, Hayes remains vengeful against those who tried to unseat him. Publicly he claims to harbor no grudges and no ambitions other than to run for Governor of Ohio. But privately, at a party celebrating his victory, Hays cornered Thompson and asked for the names of the Congressmen who had urged Thompson to run against him. "You must be out of your mind," Thompson replied, knowing that anyone he fingered would go on an enemies' list and become a target of Hays' retribution.

Hays' animosity contrasted with the reaction of the rejected Hebert. He had at first bitterly threatened to wage a floor fight to keep his chairmanship of Armed Services. This would have involved currying Republican votes to overturn a decision of the Democratic caucus. As party leaders, Albert and O'Neill announced sternly that if Hebert did so, he would be expelled from the party caucus and lose his seniority in the House, as well as his chairmanship. Hebert then not only abandoned the fight but sent words of thanks to Albert and O'Neill for saving him from an embarrassing defeat and giving him a face-saving out.

It is far from certain whether the other seeds of Democratic dissension will be similarly stifled by the urgency of the nation's legislative needs and the political advantage of party unity. It is clear, however, that if the Democrats turn fratricidal, House Republicans intend to take advantage of the disarray. Republican Leader John Rhodes has been quietly organizing his followers both to defend many of President Ford's legislative proposals and present other alternatives if the Democrats flounder.

* The Democratic majority became precisely 2 to 1 last week when Oklahoma Democrat John Jarmon, an archconservative, announced that he was outraged by the ousting of committee chairmen and was joining the Republican Party. That makes the House division 290 Democrats to 145 Republicans.

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