Senate Republicans, Democrats agree on sharing power

Senate Republicans and Democrats Friday reached agreement on all but the final details of a power-sharing agreement that will give Democrats equal representation on Senate committees. While Republicans gave in to the Democrats' central demand--equal ratios on committees--they also gained a provision they hope will prevent committees from deadlocking over crucial legislation or presidential nominations. According to Minority Whip Don Nickles, R-Okla., if a committee were deadlocked, the majority leader would have the authority to call up the legislation or the nomination through an expedited procedure. The full Senate would then vote on whether to take it up, and the Vice President would be able to exercise his constitutional authority to break ties. This would in effect allow Republicans to move legislation they deemed essential if they could hold all of their members together in the 50-50 Senate. The agreement would clear the way for the evenly divided Senate to move elements of President-elect Bush's agenda and nominations after he is inaugurated Jan. 20. Republicans will regain control of the chamber then with Vice President-elect Cheney in the chair, although Democrats are in charge until then with Vice President Gore presiding. The deal is the product of lengthy negotiations between Senate Minority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., and Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D. Once he reached the framework of a deal, Lott had to persuade critics within his own conference, who have argued that Republican chairmen would not be able to be effective unless they held at least a one-vote advantage in committee. When first asked about the deal after a GOP Conference meeting today, Nickles said, after a prolonged pause, "I'm wrestling with it." He then said, "My position is always that I thought we'd have a one-vote majority, but we'll make it work." Sen. Phil Gramm, R-Texas, who will chair the Banking Committee, said, "I believe I can operate my committee under these rules, but it will be harder." Lott apparently succeeded in persuading skeptics such as Gramm and Nickles that Republicans were better off reaching an accommodation quickly to avoid a partisan fight and move ahead with the Bush agenda. "You hate to have kind of an internal squabble over procedure muddle up the confirmation process," said Nickles. Nickles said the deal is silent on whether Republicans would gain a one-vote majority on conference committees, saying the issue would be resolved later. He said Lott and Daschle would engage in a colloquy on the floor to establish that Democrats would be consulted on setting the floor agenda. Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, said Democrats also would see their committee staff allowances boosted to match the Republicans' funds, and that each committee would then receive a 10 percent boost in funding.