Congressional Leadership on the Front Lines: Committee Chairs, Electoral Security, and Ideology

Abstract

During the 2006 campaign, many on the political right expressed anxiety about the slate of Democratic representatives and senators poised to become committee chairs in the event of a Democratic victory. After the election, despite post-election promises of “unity” and “bipartisanship” among congressional Democrats, the question remained: How well would this progressive group of “old bulls” work with the new majority, the existence of which was due in part to the 61 Democrats representing House districts that President George W. Bush won in 2004? (Greenblatt 2007, 524) In this paper, we investigate the claim that Democratic committee leaders in the 110thCongress are out of step with their party caucus by comparing the ideological leadership profiles of chairs in the 110thCongress with those of their Republican predecessors in the 109th, as well as those of Democratic chairs from the “Textbook,” “Reform,” and early “Post-reform” eras. We show that Democratic chairs in the 110thCongress are primarily drawn from the most liberal ranks of the Democratic Caucus, particularly in the House. The authors wish to thank Sara Callow for her excellent and timely research assistance.