It’s the establishment’s turn to rise on Capitol Hill in D.C.
WASHINGTON—On Capitol Hill, it’s the establishment’s turn.
After months where tea party lawmakers provoked crisis and unrest in Congress, even driving out a speaker, GOP leaders have turned to the business of governing, pushing forward a series of bills destined to get the president’s signature.
Major highway legislation and a sweeping federal education rewrite passed the House this past week despite conservatives’ objections and are expected to become law. A massive spending bill for every federal agency is in the works, as is legislation to extend dozens of tax breaks worth hundreds of billions of dollars.
Negotiations on the spending bill could melt down before Friday’s deadline as conservatives push for language barring Syrian refugees and cutting money for Planned Parenthood. Yet after months of turmoil in the Capitol, where conservatives began the spring by provoking a near-shutdown of the Homeland Security Department and ended September by ousting Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, lawmakers are marveling that they suddenly seem to be getting things done.
“It has been pleasant to serve here for the last few weeks, which was not always the case earlier in this Congress,” said Rep. Carlos Curbelo of Florida, an establishment-aligned Republican. “Don’t want to get too optimistic yet, but it’s certainly been a positive change.”
The change comes about partly because of timing. The trauma of September and October gave way to the traditional end-ofyear legislative rush, when partisan battling turns to compromise as deadlines for must-pass spending bills and other legislation come due.
In the House, Boehner’s sudden departure was followed by a month of chaos as lawmakers searched for a successor. New Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., was sworn in at the end of October, and has gotten high marks for making good on his promises of opening up decision-making in the House and keeping the conservatives who battled Boehner in the fold.
Other Republicans were simply tired of agreeing to the demands of a small group of tea party lawmakers who derived their power from their ability to sink legislation on the floor.
The best example is the federal Export-Import Bank, which advanced through the House in October despite opposition from GOP leaders pressured by the tea party. Business-friendly Republicans banded together on an obscure parliamentary maneuver that forced a floor vote. Despite personally opposing the measure, Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., acceded to including it in the final version of the highway bill, which President Barack Obama signed on Friday.