WASHINGTON, Jan. 4 (UPI) -- The U.S. Congress returned to session Tuesday with the swearing in of lawmakers and approval of new rules governing the House and Senate for the next two years.
Nevertheless, while procedural matters reigned supreme, Republican and Democratic leaders were clamoring to establish the tone of the 109th Congress and get the upper hand politically.
Amid the pomp, procedural maneuvering and high spirits on display, party leaders gave early signs of what is in store during the tough political and legislative year ahead.
Before the House and Senate welcomed the 40 new congressmen and nine new senators joining the body, the first major political maneuver of the new Congress came from House Republicans Monday evening with their reversal of an internal caucus rule adopted in November that shielded GOP leaders from having to step down when indicted.
The original rules change was aimed at protecting Republican Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, from potential charges from a grand jury investigation in his home state that led to the indictment of several of his political associates.
DeLay reportedly sought to reverse the protection personally to both end the distraction it was causing and, according to GOP aides, to take away a major talking point from House Democrats.
Republican aides also added that the increasing political furor over the issue and trepidation within the GOP caucus that could have led to several no votes on the traditionally party-line biannual rules resolution also played a hand.
House Democrats added a rule to their caucus standards Monday requiring party leaders to step down if they are indicted and were expected to hammer the GOP with their changes following the endless attacks on the subject since November.
In addition, House Republicans have withdrawn a proposal that would have made it more difficult for the House Rules Committee to rebuke members for misconduct.
The rule in question requires lawmakers to conduct themselves in a manner that "reflects creditably on the House" and has been used to reprimand members -- including DeLay last year -- for behavior that while not illegal, skirts the established ethical standards of the body.
Even as Republicans retreated on some of their efforts to weaken ethics rules to protect DeLay, they still embraced a rules package that Democratic critics say amounts to a loosening of ethics standards in the body.
Dismissing the retreat as a "tactical judgment" reflective of DeLay's political acumen but that does not reflect changed "philosophical" or "ethical" thinking by the GOP, House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer of Maryland said Tuesday that Republicans are still seeking to lower the ethical standards of the body.
Hoyer noted that changes in overall House ethics rules adopted by the body Tuesday would politicize the House ethics process by requiring a majority of the Ethics Committee to vote in favor of proceeding with any investigation of complaints made against members.
Because the panel is split 5-5 along party lines, the prospects of getting reputable ethics matters investigated in the body would be derailed, he said.
Under previous rules, if the panel cannot agree then an investigation would proceed after 45 days, but the complaint would now die after the period has elapsed with no agreement.
"That is a very substantial retreat from the commitment of this institution to the ethics of this institution," Hoyer told reporters.
But GOP aides dismissed such attacks as pure sour grapes on the part of Democrats after their Nov. 2 election losses.
"They just can't take losing again and the fact that our power is even greater," said one House GOP leadership aide.
In the end, the GOP has clearly side-stepped what could have been a bruising opening-day battle with Democrats in the House as the matter is likely to easily disappear from the radar in the coming days.
The next subject of business for lawmakers is to set committee assignments, pick party chairmen and other procedural matters to be decided later this week.
But clear signs of the coming GOP agenda were on display Tuesday in both the House and Senate where House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., and Senate Republican Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., praised the success of the 108th Congress and their party in particular in their opening statements of the year.
Although President Bush and GOP leaders have made much of the need to reach across party lines in the weeks since the election, congressional Republicans are clear in their intent to push through a conservative agenda with or without Democratic help.
Bush welcomed newly elected members of Congress Monday, pledging to reach across the aisle to Democrats to enact his agenda.
"I'll call upon Congress to take on big issues, and I look forward to working with members of both parties to do just that," said Bush.
But even though such sentiments were echoed by Frist and Hastert Tuesday, their praise of the successful GOP policy objectives in Bush's first term that were opposed by many Democrats -- including several tax cuts and the Medicare prescription-drug program -- and clear intent to pursue a solidly conservative agenda undermines their calls for bipartisan action.
The first order for Hastert after being re-elected leader of the House was to reiterate GOP policy plans for the year, including the broad concept of reforming the rules of the Congress, and, more controversially, adding personal investment accounts to Social Security.
"If we wait too long the consequences for inaction will be too great," said Hastert.
But Hastert did not speak of plans to address the long-term fiscal problems of the program, which -- given what is known about the Bush administration's Social Security proposal so far -- would not be addressed in a GOP plan to partially privatize the program, nor about the even greater fiscal crunch faced by Medicare.
Nevertheless, the free-market oriented ideal that underlay the private account proposal is clearly defining the GOP agenda, with Hastert pledging to pursue an "aggressive reform agenda," including a "national debate about completely overhauling the tax code."
Just how congressional Democrats will respond to the GOP agenda remains to be seen, but with Senate Republicans five votes shy of overriding a filibuster, it is clear at least some cooperation from Democrats will be necessary.
This is especially true on issues like tax code and Social Security overhauls where there is far from a consensus within the GOP caucus in either house of Congress.
Republican and Democratic senators are meeting separately Wednesday to work on their legislative plans for the next year.
With GOP leaders keen to take action on their perceived election mandate by approving previously stalled legislation and a slate of conservative judicial appointments and Democrats looking to redefine themselves in the minds of voters after their November losses, both sides have a tough task ahead of them.
In the House, where the GOP leadership has essentially unfettered control by keeping a strong hold on their strengthened caucus and through manipulation of the House floor process, the potential for any real bipartisan cooperation appears nonexistent.
In the case of hot-topic issues like Social Security reform, there appears to be little want for actual bipartisan cooperation, despite the rhetoric stating otherwise.
House Democrats have little power, only the ability to cry out against bills on the House floor as they did during the limited debate over the rules package approved by lawmakers Tuesday.
"The president said he wants to work in a bipartisan fashion," Hoyer said about Social Security overhaul proposals specifically, but with implications for the entire GOP agenda. "As you have heard me say, there are very few indications in the last four years that we (lawmakers) will work in a bipartisan fashion."
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