GOP’s unelected power duo

Within an hour of Landrieu’s move, the two top aides, perhaps the most powerful unelected Republicans in Washington, had worked out the details and helped ensure that any Keystone XL bill that might clear Congress in a Senate vote schedule for Tuesday would carry Cassidy’s name. Cassidy’s bill, identical to Landrieu’s, pass the House on Friday.

This quick, seamless collaboration on Keystone was nothing new for Soderstrom, 54, and Sommers 39. The two chiefs are under strict, longstanding orders to work together to help their bosses maintain cross-chamber unity among Republicans and implement a coordinated legislative and political strategy. Their roles are sure to be tested after the Republicans assume command of the full Congress in January.

“They both have a pretty good understanding of the other legislative body,” a Republican senator who has worked with both told the Washington Examiner. “I think both the speaker and the leader want to see the Congress function in a visibly different way, and I think two really good people to implement that visible change are the two people you’re talking about.”

Boehner and McConnell, whose hometowns of Cincinnati and Louisville are separated by an easy 100-mile drive along Interstate 71 — and whose Capitol office suites are bridged by an even easier 20-foot walk along a hidden corridor that both use often to meet and strategize — have built an unusually strong relationship. They have managed to avoid the distrust and outright disdain that can plague House and Senate leaders of the same party.

Maintaining that bond is about to get much tougher, as the GOP prepares to take control of the Senate for the first time in eight years. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., have had lukewarm relations. On the Republican side, previously, then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich clashed with Senate majority leaders Bob Dole and Trent Lott.

The Boehner-McConnell relationship has benefited from lower expectations for what their party could accomplish under President Obama and a Democratic Senate. More power is sure to breed higher expectations. In the past, that has caused severe friction among members of the same party, who are often unsympathetic to the pressures faced by their colleagues across Capitol Hill. Look for Boehner and McConnell to hold joint news conferences to bolster party unity.

“Right now, they’re in pilot and co-pilot mode taking off in an airplane. But they’re about to experience severe turbulence,” a former Republican congressional leadership aide said.

The ability of Boehner and McConnell to overcome the challenges that await could rest partly on Soderstrom and Sommers.

Although the speaker and the Senate majority leader always set the tone, day-to-day responsibilities for managing their respective caucuses fall largely to their chiefs of staff. That includes developing and negotiating legislative and political matters directly with caucus members. Leadership chiefs also act as proxies for their bosses in direct negotiations with the opposition. A talented chief instinctively knows the parameters of a deal acceptable to his boss and the caucus.

In interviews with staff, members of Congress and lobbyists, Soderstrom and Sommers both received high marks for loyalty, understanding the political pressure points of the caucuses they lead and providing candid, insightful counsel to their respective employers. But sources said each brings unique skills that function as a reflection of the congressional leaders they serve. Their personal backgrounds and professional paths also differ somewhat.

Soderstrom, a veteran of the offices of Senate majority leaders Lott and Bill Frist, joined McConnell’s office as deputy chief of staff in 2007, when McConnell became the minority leader. She became McConnell’s leadership chief in 2010. The Long Island, N.Y., native is described as a sharp inside operator and experienced Senate parliamentarian — an important skill in a chamber with arcane rules that give even the most junior member an extraordinary amount of legislative power.

“She has an incredible command of the Senate: its personalities, its procedures and its politics,” said Kyle Simmons, McConnell’s chief of staff before Soderstrom. “There’s no one anywhere with as strong a background in how the Senate works than Sharon.”

Sommers began his career for Boehner as a field representative in the speaker’s district office in Hamilton, Ohio. The Naperville, Ill., native left for awhile to run agriculture policy for President George W. Bush, but returned a few years later, and in 2012 was elevated to chief of staff. Many in Sommers’ role are hard-chargers. His predecessor, Barry Jackson, who also worked in the Bush administration, was notorious for his aggressive personality.

Republicans who interact with Sommers regularly say he is more reflective of Boehner’s easy-going public persona: courteous, approachable and capable of understanding political and policy issues from myriad angles. That is important in a chamber with members who are on the ballot every two years and are particularly sensitive to outside political pressure. One House Republican said Sommers is firm but never shouts, likening him to a “steel fist in a velvet glove.”

Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., said Sommers has been intimately involved, on Boehner’s behalf, in House GOP planning for a takeover of the Senate so that the party would be prepared to govern if the Republicans assumed full command of Capitol Hill. To the extent that Republicans can follow through with their plans, they are ready to act once the new Congress is seated in January.

“He’s very level-headed, doesn’t get excited and gets the job done,” Nunes said. “We’re going to have some good legislation that will come out quickly because of the work that Sommers has done leading up to the election.”