Ways and Means leader is wary of deficit-cutting panel

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., is wary of a commission President Obama created to recommend ways to reduce the deficit, but he is not ruling out the idea.

"I am not going to fight the president on this," Rangel said Wednesday. "But I have got to hear some more, have some more discussions as to why people believe that the Congress can't perform its responsibility."

Rangel also said he has issues with the executive branch encroaching on the autonomy of the legislative branch, "but I'll take a look" at the idea.

Rangel, who said he has not been approached to serve on the commission, might try to talk about the issue with White House officials Thursday at the healthcare summit he is scheduled to attend.

Obama created the commission by executive order last week after an effort in the Senate to create a similar panel failed.

Under the order, the commission will have 18 members, including six lawmakers appointed by House and Senate Democratic leaders and six lawmakers appointed by House and Senate Republican leaders. Obama will appoint six others, only four of whom could be Democrats.

Fourteen commission members would have to agree on any deficit-reduction plan.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said she plans to name her three members "in a few days."

House Budget Chairman John Spratt, D-S.C., said he has not been contacted about the panel, "but I am interested" in the idea.

Republicans have been skeptical of the presidential panel, but Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, are expected to name their six commissioners soon.

"I have very low expectations for the commission," said Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, a member of the Budget Committee. "We don't need a deficit panel; we need a spending panel."

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., on Wednesday named Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., and Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad, D-N.D., to the panel.

Obama last week named Erskine Bowles, chief of staff to former President Bill Clinton, and former Sen. Alan Simpson, R-Wyo., to chair the panel. He is also considering three others: Honeywell International Inc. CEO David Cote, a Republican; former Congressional Budget Office Director Alice Rivlin; and Andy Stern, president of the Service Employees International Union, both Democrats.

House and Senate Democratic leaders have pledged to take up the commission's recommendations before the end of the year. The recommendations will be presented to Congress after the November elections.