Bickering Heights

By DOUGLAS WALLER

Think of them as kids squabbling in the backseat on a long car ride. In the case of Congress, there doesn't seem to be much hope that they'll quiet down and cooperate. Republicans and Democrats can always be expected to bicker, but lately the partisanship on Capitol Hill has become unusually intense. In fact, students of the institution say Congress hasn't been this politically polarized in almost a century.

That doesn't bode well for George W. Bush's ambitious second-term agenda, which includes reforming the federal tax code, partially privatizing Social Security and probably naming at least one Supreme Court Justice. To make any of that happen, Bush will have to work with the opposition. But he is getting less of a honeymoon from Democrats after winning an election with a clear majority than he did after winning one decided by the Supreme Court. Leaders of both parties mouth the usual platitudes about wanting to work with the other side, but they are not backing it up with action. Even before the 109th Congress gets down to business in two weeks, "the warning shots that each party is firing across the bow of the other are much more aggressive and direct," says Norman Ornstein, an expert on Congress at the American Enterprise Institute.

In the Senate, which in the past prided itself on being the more collegial of the two chambers, majority leader Bill Frist is threatening what is called the nuclear option, a complicated parliamentary maneuver to prevent Democrats from filibustering Bush's judicial nominees. Though Bush had more judges confirmed in his first term than the previous three Presidents had in theirs, Republicans are still seething over Democratic filibusters that blocked confirmation of 10 of his more conservative appeals-court picks. So Republican Senators may seek a ruling from the Senate's presiding officer--who, conveniently, is Vice President Cheney--that filibusters against judicial nominees are unconstitutional. A majority of 51 votes would be needed to uphold such a ruling, a number far easier for the

Republicans, who now have 55 seats, to muster than the 60 required to cut off a filibuster. The filibuster is a cherished Senate tradition, however, and if Frist gets his exemption for judges, Democrats vow to bring the place to a halt with their own moves, such as forcing endless debate and roll-call votes on mundane procedural matters usually approved by unanimous consent.

Senate minority leader Harry Reid is acting as if the election season never ended, setting up a war room of press aides whose job will be to respond rapidly to Republicans. Reid angered Republicans by announcing that the Democratic policy committee, an arm of the Senate Democrats, would usurp G.O.P.-led Senate committees by convening oversight hearings on issues--such as flawed prewar intelligence on Iraq--that Democrats feel have not been sufficiently probed. The policy committee normally promotes party positions on issues and has the statutory authority to hold hearings, but it can't subpoena witnesses. Frist spokesman Bob Stevenson says, "This is a political stunt, nothing more, nothing less."

Interparty relations are even more acidic in the House. Speaker Dennis Hastert and minority leader Nancy Pelosi have not had a private meal together since Pelosi took over the top Democratic job two years ago. Each thinks the other is a rabid partisan, so they confer only when they must. The sour climate permeates the House. Since 1997, Illinois G.O.P. Congressman Ray LaHood has helped organize a weekend retreat at the beginning of each two-year session for Democratic and Republican Representatives and their families. Two hundred members showed up for the first retreat. The one planned for this March has been canceled because of lack of interest. "The well has been poisoned," says LaHood.

Why the ugly mood? One reason is hardball legislative tactics that each side claims the other has used for the past four years. The lines drawn during the 2000 congressional-redistricting exercise made about 90% of the House districts predominantly Republican or Democratic, so incumbents don't have to worry about reaching out to the other side. The percentage of staunchly liberal Democrats or staunchly conservative Republicans in the House is the highest it has been since 1901, according to studies of congressional voting patterns by Keith T. Poole of the University of California at San Diego and Howard Rosenthal of Princeton.

And Bush appears more than willing to stoke partisan flames on the Hill. On Dec. 24 he announced that he would renominate 20 conservatives whom Democrats blocked for federal district and appellate judgeships in the previous Congress. Angry Democrats vow to block them again. Be prepared for more squabbling. --By Douglas Waller