No congressional delegation will lose as much seniority and clout next year than Michigan. Of its four members who are retiring, three are chairmen of powerful committees. The fourth is the longest serving current member of Congress.
Yet experts say their absence won’t have much impact on most Michigan residents, as the modern era of national politics has already diminished the direct influence members of Congress have on their constituents.
“In an earlier era, especially, it was more important directly for a state if it had well-positioned committee chairs and high profile people, because they could bring in benefits to protect the economic interests of the state,” said Norm Ornstein of the American Enterprise Institute, a Washington think tank. “That still matters, but a little bit less now than it did before.”
In early January, Michigan will lose Democratic Sen. Carl Levin, Senate Armed Services Committee chairman, and Republican Reps. Dave Camp and Mike Rogers, chairmen of the House Ways and Means, and Select Intelligence committees.
Also stepping down is Democratic Rep. John Dingell, whose has served in the House for 58 years.
But with the once ubiquitous practice of quietly slipping earmarks into legislation largely out of fashion — or at least made more difficult through House leadership rules — and with a media eager to exploit those on Capitol Hill suspected of abusing power, lawmakers increasingly are hard-pressed to use their positions to funnel money to pet projects home.
“A lot of Michiganians might say, ‘boy, [Dave Camp] might have been the chair of Ways and Means … but we have among the worst roads in the country,” said Ed Sidlow, an Eastern Michigan University political science professor.
And while Levin and Rogers’ panels are vital in the United States’ continuing struggle against terrorism, their impact has a more global than local impact.
“Levin was extremely well respected … but the reality is, most of his time and energy was expended on international affairs,” Sidlow said.
At 88, Dingell has served in the House since the Eisenhower administration. And while among the most respected members of Congress in generations, his influence has waned noticeably in recent years. He unceremoniously lost his chairmanship on the House Energy and Commerce Committee in late 2008 to Rep. Henry Waxman of California in a Democratic caucus fight.
And many in Washington and Michigan privately say Dingell, while still mentally sharp, has lost so much energy that his effectiveness as a lawmaker has been compromised.
The hyper-partisan political climate that has gripped Capitol Hill in recent years also means that state multiparty congressional delegations like Michigan don’t work as closely together as they once did, lessening the influence the four retiring lawmakers have on their intrastate colleagues.
“If we were talking about a generation ago, I would say that (the retirements) would make a difference,” Sidlow said. “But with the current climate of absolutely non-compromise, I can’t imagine anything making a difference … across the whole (delegation) membership.”
Congress “is so partisan and do dysfunctional that the ability of any one member to have a great deal of impact anymore is I think something of a fiction.”
Still, the loss of a combined 130-plus years in Congress is bound to weaken the Michigan’s clout to some degree, others say. And with the economy of the Rust Belt state sluggish and unemployed among the highest in the nation, that isn’t good news.
“A senior position on a congressional committee is still worth a lot, though maybe not as much as it used to be with the centralization of power” among party leadership, said Bill Galston of the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank. “There are ways in which local, state and regional concerns can find expression in politics other than earmarks.”
And with local interests inevitably intertwined with national and international matters, a lawmaker with a key position on military-related committee, for example, still can potentially help a defense contractor in his or her state or district.
“There are still ways of steering money and affecting things, but it’s not like the old era of earmarks,” Ornstein said. It helps to have “savvy prestigious people who have the ears of the president or party leaders or both, but who also know how the legislative process works, so if something comes up that is of particular interest to the residents of the state, they can make sure their voices are heard.”
As for Congress as a whole, Ornstein added the loss of institutional knowledge from Levin, Rogers, Camp and Dingell definitely will be missed.
“There are people who say, what about term limits, wouldn’t that be great? But the fact is, when people are there for awhile they develop a greater understanding of the nuance of policy, of how the process works, of how it’s supposed to work, what’s important and what isn’t,” he said. “And we’re losing a lot here.”
