Mike Enzi is threatening to take the Senate Budget Committee gavel from Jeff Sessions just as Republicans are readying to use their new majority and Congress’ spending authority to confront President Obama’s “executive amnesty.”
Enzi and Sessions hold equally conservative voting records. But the Wyoming senator’s power play to supplant Sessions as the top Republican on the Budget Committee is rankling immigration hawks.
They lionize the Alabama lawmaker for how he has used his committee perch to fight comprehensive immigration reform, and they expected him to use the chairmanship to help direct opposition to Obama’s executive action legalizing millions of undocumented immigrants.
“Sessions has demonstrated statesmanlike qualities in fighting for conservatives on immigration, budget, and welfare as ranking member of the Budget Committee. It makes no sense for someone like Enzi who has not led on any of those issues to challenge [him] for the chairmanship,” said Gaston Mooney, executive director of Conservative Review.
In brief interviews with the Washington Examiner on Wednesday, Enzi and Sessions both confirmed that Enzi wants to become Budget Committee chairman when Republicans assume command of the Senate in January. The two senators are discussing the matter, looking for a negotiated settlement that might prevent a full-blown campaign that would be decided by a vote of the Republicans that won’t even be assigned to the committee until January.
Chairmanships are otherwise decided by seniority, which in this case gives Enzi the edge. Enzi and Sessions were both re-elected to a fourth term earlier this month, but through the Senate GOP’s complicated rules that govern seniority on the various committees, Enzi has accrued more than Sessions on this particular panel.
Some conservatives suspect that incoming Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., or Republicans in the business community encouraged Enzi to challenge Sessions because of his immigration stance. The two senators are good friends, legitimately, and Enzi had not previously expressed interest in running the Budget Committee.
Moreover, Enzi could have used his seniority to challenge Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., a McConnell ally, for the gavel of the Health Committee, where he previously served as ranking member.
But veteran political operatives familiar with how the Senate works said Enzi’s move is not necessarily unusual.
Republicans haven’t been in the majority since 2006. Having the power to drive legislation, particularly with McConnell vowing to vest the committee chairmen with their traditional influence, can make running one panel more desirable than another. For instance, Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., the top Republican on the Appropriations Committee, is expected to exercise his seniority to claim the chairmanship of the Banking Committee.
Meanwhile, Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, had considered petitioning for a waiver to reclaim her seat on the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee and use her seniority to challenge likely incoming Chairman Ron Johnson, R-Wis., for the gavel. But Collins said this week “at this point this is not my inclination.” Johnson said he is confident that Collins is not going to move to reassert her membership on the committee.
For Enzi, a certified public accountant by trade, becoming the chairman of the Budget Committee at a time when Republicans have the power to write a federal spending plan would appear to make some sense. Senate Republicans were hesitant to comment about Enzi’s decision to claim the Budget gavel over Sessions, saying both would do a fine job atop the committee. This sort of thing has happened before, but is not a regular occurrence.
“I’ve told both that I have no plan to get involved,” said one Senate Republican, who agreed to speak on condition of anonymity.
“Predicting leadership elections and committee chair selections is nearly impossible. If I had to bet, I would put money on Enzi. But I wouldn’t wager more than a quarter,” added a chief of staff to another Senate Republican.
Anticipating that Republicans might win the Senate in the just-concluded midterm elections, Sessions has been preparing a budget blueprint to work off of in the new Congress.
Writing a federal budget plan is on one of the primary functions of the committee. The Senate under Democratic stewardship has not written a budget during Sessions’ tenure as Budget Committee ranking member, and there is a lot of pent-up desire among Republicans, Sessions included, to vote on a budget.
But Sessions has made his mark in public as an outspoken critic of immigration reform generally and proposals to offer amnesty to illegal immigrants specifically. Sessions’ relentless rallying against the Senate’s “gang of eight” comprehensive immigration reform bill that cleared the chamber in June 2013, and even House immigration bills that he argues would lead to amnesty, has endeared him to conservative immigration hardliners.
Many of them are sure to see Enzi’s run at the Budget gavel in that light, despite the fact that Enzi’s voting record on immigration issues isn’t much different from Sessions’.
“Sen. Sessions is not just a leader on the conservative side on budget issues, fiscal issues — he’s been a leader on a number of other issues, including immigration,” said Rep. Bradley Byrne, R-Ala. “We see him, not just in Alabama but throughout the conservative movement, as one of our leaders nationally.”
