Outlook:
The second honeymoon following the Republican victory did not last long enough to prevent complaints from GOP members of Congress.
1) Republican lobbyists for a variety of interests are not happy about the apathy of the White House in getting anything done in the brief lame duck session of Congress except for the bare minimum.
2) In fact, the White House has been negative in not getting the extra two senators to pass the energy bill that already has been passed by the House. In addition to its broad energy provisions, the measure is packed with special interest goodies. President George W. Bush would prefer to wait until the new Congressional term to pass a whole new bill, with the possibility of getting Arctic Natural Wildlife Reserve (ANWR) drilling through the more Republican Senate.
3) Congressional tax reform advocates have not been impressed by President Bush's putting a possible national sales tax on his second term agenda. His decision to start with a study commission has evoked the observation from Capitol Hill that such commissions usually result in a tax increase. House Republicans may move on their own in advance of White House approval. The leading House reform advocate, Rep. John Linder (R.-Ga.) meets this week with House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R.-Tex.) to discuss plans.
4) Republican advocates of reduced domestic spending are ready to make a concerted effort to push the Administration in that direction. Rep. Mike Pence (R.-Ind.), the new leader of House GOP conservatives, is aggressive on reduced spending. Sen. John McCain (R.-Ariz.) plans to join up with Sen.-elect Tom Coburn (R.-Okla.) in an anti-pork campaign.
Cabinet:
An unusually extensive Cabinet reconstruction in the second term follows a relatively stable Bush Cabinet in the first term.
However, his appointment delighted many on the Right because it may rule out a Gonzales appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court. Although Gonzales's confirmation is widely expected, Democrats will skewer him in Senate hearings for his suggestion that President Bush go to war in Iraq without congressional approval. They will also force him to speak for the record, under oath, about memoranda he authored recommending that detainees at Guantanamo Bay not be given the protections afforded to prisoners of war by the Geneva Conventions.
Sources close to President Bush report he favors naming retiring Democratic Sen. John Breaux of Louisiana to replace him. This is the most likely scenario for Bush to place in his Cabinet, an elected Democratic official who supported John Kerry for president this year. Breaux, a moderate who supports ANWR drilling and who has generally supported Bush's energy policy from the Senate, says he wants to leave government. But Bush might talk him out of it.
