Pelosi rebuffed on her choice of deputy
Vote suggests deep divisions in new majority
WASHINGTON -- In a blow to House speaker-designate Nancy Pelosi's command, Democrats yesterday overwhelmingly rejected her choice for majority leader, electing Representative Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland -- Pelosi's erstwhile adversary -- to serve as her top deputy in the new Congress.
Pelosi had wanted Representative John P. Murtha of Pennsylvania for the job, and her decision to endorse him backfired, displaying the limits of her influence among fellow Democrats. Pelosi now has a rival in the second-ranking job, and Hoyer's victory gives him his own power center.
Hoyer, 67, won with a coalition among the party's conservatives and its freshman class, many of whom he campaigned for before the midterm elections. It worked surprisingly well: Hoyer got 149 votes, and just 86 members chose Murtha in the secret vote.
The fight to be Pelosi's top lieutenant, and her power play, exposed deep divisions among Democrats despite their resounding victory over the Republicans last week. Rather than establishing Pelosi's control, the family feud distracted from the party's efforts to project a unified front.
Representative Barney Frank, a Newton Democrat, said Pelosi committed an "error in judgment" by backing Murtha. But Frank said he's pleased that the leadership fight ended quickly and that Democrats have the same one-two combination that helped them win the majority.
"She's a very smart leader. She's very tested. She just made a mistake," said Frank, who is in line to become chairman of the House Financial Services Committee. "It was a distraction. I'm glad we got it over with quick."
The fight, however, irked rank-and-file Democrats, who accused Pelosi surrogates of using strong-arm tactics to help Murtha win. Some Murtha backers, meanwhile, were seething over members' broken promises.
"If there's any hard feelings, it's [directed at] the number of members who simply can't be trusted, who try to have it both ways," said Representative James P. Moran, a Virginia Democrat and a strong Murtha supporter. "There's a couple dozen members who we probably won't trust next time we have an issue like this."
Pelosi's miscalculation could have ramifications for Democrats, suggesting that the caucus could fracture under pressure, said Alan Wolfe, a political science professor at Boston College. "There were a lot of Democrats who were willing to repudiate their leader," Wolfe said. "She was going to make this a test of her ruthlessness, and it backfired."
Still, Pelosi has the caucus's overwhelming support, and it unanimously selected her the first female House speaker yesterday. Both Hoyer and Murtha say they support her, and they all stood shoulder to shoulder at a press conference after the vote.
Pelosi, 66, praised Hoyer and called it a "stunning victory," but suggested that Murtha, a strong Iraq war critic, would have been the better choice.
"We've had our debates, we've had our disagreements in that room, and now, that is over," Pelosi said. "As we say in church, let there be peace on Earth, and let it begin with us. Let the healing begin."
Pelosi endorsed Murtha to send messages that she values loyalty and that the Iraq war is an important issue for Democrats. Pelosi and Murtha are old friends , and Murtha's decision to speak out against the Iraq war last year helped galvanize the party before the midterm elections. Hoyer, by contrast, challenged Pelosi in a 2001 race for Democratic whip; the tension between them has lingered.
"Nancy backed up the notion that we need a person in that position who is an unimpeachable voice on national security and on the war, and that was the higher imperative," said Representative Anthony D. Wiener, a New York Democrat.
Hoyer, the minority whip, won because he had accumulated enough good will within the party to defeat Murtha and because Murtha's candidacy came with ethical baggage.
A member of the powerful House Appropriations Committee, Murtha has for years faced questions about his relationship with defense contractors and his role in doling out federal contracts. He was also named an "unindicted conspirator" in the 1980 Abscam scandal, in which undercover FBI agents posed as Arab sheiks and tried to bribe legislators.
After a national campaign that turned on Republican scandals and corruption, many Democrats wanted a leadership team with impeccable ethics credentials.
"We had a winning combination that had achieved so much" under Pelosi and Hoyer, said Representative Elijah Cummings, a Maryland Democrat. "And we want to make sure that we don't have a temporary visa with regard to leading Congress."
Though the Murtha-Hoyer fight is behind her, Pelosi faces another test of her power: the selection of a chairman for the high-profile House Intelligence Committee. Representative Jane Harmon of California has the seniority , but she and Pelosi have a frosty relationship.
Pelosi has signaled that she is considering Representative Alcee L. Hastings of Florida, the committee's number two Democrat, for the job, a nod to the Congressional Black Caucus. But picking Hastings could be a public-relations disaster: Hastings, a former federal judge, was impeached by Congress in 1989 and removed from the bench over allegations he took bribes for lenient sentences.
The conservative Blue Dog Democrats coalition, fresh from helping seal Hoyer's victory, has urged Pelosi to make Harmon committee chairwoman.
"We do not want to be obstructionist," said Representative Mike Ross, an Arkansas Democrat who is an incoming cochairman of the 44-member coalition. "We simply want to bring our party back to the middle and make sure we govern from the middle. The American people did not replace Republicans with liberal Democrats to give us this new majority." 