6 Republicans Named to Deficit Reduction Panel

By
Published: August 10, 2011 - New York Times

WASHINGTON — The top Republicans in the House and the Senate appointed six lawmakers on Wednesday to a powerful new Congressional committee that is supposed to find ways to reduce federal budget deficits by at least $1.5 trillion over 10 years.

Two of the Republican appointees have a history of working with Democrats. All oppose tax increases, but at least one supports eliminating tax breaks like the subsidies for ethanol.

The speaker, John A. Boehner, chose the three House Republicans: Jeb Hensarling of Texas and Dave Camp and Fred Upton, both from Michigan.

Mr. Hensarling, the chairman of the House Republican Conference, will be co-chairman, along with Senator Patty Murray, Democrat of Washington.

The Senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, chose Senators Jon Kyl of Arizona, Rob Portman of Ohio and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania for the 12-member panel.

The panel, the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, is supposed to come up with recommendations by Nov. 23. If it fails, or if its proposals are not enacted, the government will automatically cut spending across the board to ensure savings.

If just one panel member crosses party lines, the committee can send its recommendations to the floor of the House and the Senate for up-or-down votes without amendments. If a deal is to be struck in the middle, it is likely to involve Mr. Portman, Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts and perhaps Senator Max Baucus of Montana, Congressional aides said.

People who favor a ggrand bargainh say they hope panel members will feel pressure to be less dogmatic than usual because of several factors: the recent downgrade of the United States governmentfs credit rating, the weakness of the American economy, the plunge in the stock market and a loss of public confidence in federal officials — what Standard & Poorfs described as the weakening of gAmerican policymaking and political institutions.h

Robert L. Bixby, executive director of the Concord Coalition, a nonpartisan budget watchdog group, said the nine members named so far did not inspire optimism. gI would not call it a dream team for a grand bargain,h he said.

gIf the joint committee does anything serious,h Mr. Bixby added, git will have to include changes in taxes and entitlement programsh like those recommended by the co-chairmen of President Obamafs deficit reduction commission, Erskine B. Bowles, a Democrat, and former Senator Alan K. Simpson, a Republican.

Three members of the new panel — Mr. Baucus, Mr. Camp and Mr. Hensarling — were members of the Bowles-Simpson group and voted against its proposal, Mr. Bixby said.

Changes in Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and tax policy are all on the table for the new panel.

Mr. Camp is chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, which has authority over taxes, Medicare and Social Security. Mr. Upton is chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, which has authority over Medicaid and parts of Medicare.

Senate Democrats on the new panel, besides Mrs. Murray, are Mr. Baucus and Mr. Kerry. Representative Nancy Pelosi, the House Democratic leader, has until Tuesday to fill the remaining three slots on the panel.

Mr. Kyl, the No. 2 Senate Republican; Mr. Toomey, a former president of the Club for Growth; and Mr. Hensarling, a former chairman of the Republican Study Committee, are among the most conservative members of Congress and rarely vote with Democrats on issues that split the parties. Mr. Toomey voted last week against the bill that raised the debt limit, saying it did not do enough to cut spending.

In more than two decades in Congress, Mr. Upton, a moderate conservative, has often shown an independent streak. He supported expansion of the Childrenfs Health Insurance Program, for example. But last fall, under fire from conservatives, he tacked to the right in his successful effort to become chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee.

Mr. Portman, a House member from 1993 to 2005, was White House budget director and United States trade representative under President George W. Bush. In Congress, he has worked well with Democrats — on pension and tax issues, for example — even as he has voted consistently with other Republicans.

Mr. Kyl, who delves into the details of legislation and policy, is a member of the Finance Committee and participated in deficit reduction talks with Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. in May and June. He has resisted cuts in military spending and in Medicare payments to doctors and health maintenance organizations.

In 2004 and 2005, Mr. Hensarling proposed an overall cap on spending for most entitlement programs other than Social Security.

Lobbyists for older Americans, veterans and poor people opposed the idea, saying that it could lead to deep cuts in such programs.

Mr. Toomey served three terms in the House, from 1999 to 2005, when he became president of the Club for Growth, which champions low taxes, free markets and limited government. He said Wednesday that the new panel would have to bridge an ideological gulf.

gIf this committee is going to be successful,h Mr. Toomey said, git absolutely has to have bipartisan support. This has to be done in a cooperative fashion. It has to be an exercise in finding common ground between Republicans and Democrats.h

Mr. Toomey said he had voted to eliminate ethanol subsidies and added: gIf we tackle tax policy, and I hope we will, the goal should be to broaden the base and lower rates so we can create an environment thatfs more conducive to economic growth. That will also generate more revenue. A stronger economy always does.h

Mr. Baucus, the chairman of the Finance Committee, has fought to gend the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy.h He says high-income people should not receive an extension of tax cuts scheduled to expire on Dec. 31, 2012.

Mr. Baucus has also tried to end tax breaks that benefit oil and gas companies and hedge fund managers.

The nine panel members have experience in the ways of Washington and would not be expected to deviate much from the priorities of their party leaders.

Mr. Camp has been investigating how to overhaul the tax code to promote economic growth, but has opposed what he calls gjob-killing tax increases.h

He and Mr. Upton have sometimes joined Democrats in supporting legislation to help the unemployed. gBeing from Michigan, where families have endured 31 consecutive months of double-digit unemployment,h Mr. Upton said, gI know how important it is to get our economy back on track and get Americans back to work.h

A version of this article appeared in print on August 11, 2011, on page A14 of the New York edition with the headline: 6 Republicans Named to Congressional Committee to Reduce the Deficit.