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Green Shoots of Sanity?

Ruth Marcus on

WASHINGTON -- Are we witnessing the emergence of what might be called a new "sanity caucus" among House Republicans?

Earlier this month, 26 of them voted against an amendment to undo President Obama's program to shield so-called dreamers from deportation.

Last week, House leaders were forced to pull an anti-abortion bill after a different but similarly sized group balked at provisions in a measure to ban late-term abortions.

To be sure, this is, to rephrase Daniel Patrick Moynihan, defining sanity down.

On the immigration bill, despite the moderates' revolt, the amendment to repeal Obama's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program passed, albeit by the narrowest possible margin. Meantime, a comfortable majority voted to block Obama's more recent immigration actions.

Similarly, on the abortion measure, the dispute was not over the substance of the bill, which would ban almost all abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy -- in clear violation of Supreme Court precedent. Rather the controversy was over the rape exception, and the requirement that such assaults be reported to police.

 

In other words, sanity is relative, and no doubt politically inspired by the desire not to offend voting blocs (Hispanics, women). Still, the episodes represent a surprising -- and welcome -- departure from turmoil-as-usual in the House, with tea party conservatives erupting against what they view as ideological perfidy from Republican leaders.

From the inside, this looks less like House Republicans getting their act together than Keystone Kops leadership and a rambunctious caucus.

"Week 1, we had the vote for the speaker," said Rep. Charlie Dent, a centrist Pennsylvania Republican, referring to the unexpectedly large conservative insurrection against re-electing John Boehner. "Week 2 we debated deporting children. Week 3 we're debating rape and incest. I just can't wait for Week 4."

Indeed, Weeks 5 and 6 could be interesting, too. Boehner has a bolstered majority this Congress, giving him more leeway to take positions that alienate his most strident members. With the Senate in Republican hands, the House could be in the position of passing bills that could be signed into law, not lobbing futile protest votes over to the Senate to die.

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