Steny Hoyer is already the highest-ranking congressman in Maryland’s history.
If things go as both parties are predicting, he may well get a promotion. Hoyer, 67, said he expects to be elected House majority leader if the Democrats take the House in the fall elections.
It’s not a lock. Pennsylvania’s Rep. John Murtha — an outspoken critic of the Iraq war — challenged Hoyer’s leadership earlier this year and narrowly lost. Murtha has won the support of many Democrats who want to take a more aggressive tack with President Bush.
One of Murtha’s supporters is Virginia Rep. Jim Moran, a former member of the informal bipartisan college of capital-area delegates that includes Reps. Tom Davis R-Va., Frank Wolf, R-Va., and Chris Van Hollen, D-Md.
Hoyer is offering himself as a consensus-builder. If the Democrats win, they won’t have a wide majority, Hoyer said, and it’ll take someone who can reach out to Republicans to get anything done in Congress.
“This has been a do-nothing, or a less than do-nothing Congress,” Hoyer said in an interview with The Examiner. “We haven’t addressed the needs of this country.”
But “consensus” doesn’t mean surrender, Hoyer said — especially with regard to the war in Iraq.
“It doesn’t mean that we’re not going to run the House — we are,” he said. “A cascade of evidence is showing that, a.) there was deep division in the administration, and b.) the carrying out of the policy against terrorism has not been carried out in a way that’s leading us to success.”
Hoyer has twice been elected party whip — the congressman charged with keeping Democratic votes lined up and the party’s parliamentary business in order. “He’s a good leader and a good friend,” said CaliforniaDemocrat Ellen Tauscher. “In a business where people are talking all the time, he actually takes the time to listen.”
His work has won him the respect of the rival party, Davis said. “The guy’s a pro,” Davis said. “He’s always been able to get Democratic votes when we had trouble with our leadership.”
Hoyer has helped out in getting funding for the Woodrow Wilson Bridge and has always been eager to pitch in to help federal employees caught in the system, Davis said.
In fact, it’s precisely his parliamentary skill that worries Republicans, Davis said. “He recognizes all of the diverse elements of the Democratic coalition,” Davis said. “If he were the Democratic Leader, our chances would be even tougher.”
Hoyer has also been helped by corrosive scandals in the GOP. The waves emanating from disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff and disgraced defense contractors Mitchell Wade and Brett Wilkes have already swamped key Republicans — including former Majority Leader Tom DeLay — and threaten to take down more. Just last week, House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., fought off calls for his own resignation after a host of lurid e-mails from Florida Republican Mark Foley to underage House pages were made public.
The Foley scandal is in part a failure to reach out, Hoyer said. “It’s a deeply disturbing example of what we’ve been complaining about,” he said. “A very partisan, very divided House that does not hold the administration accountable, that does not exercise oversight and has not assured the ethical conduct of its own members.”
