Hastert will resume role as just another congressman
BY DENNNIS CONRAD Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- Leaving Speaker Dennis Hastert's office with its grand
view of National Mall and the city's monuments to Washington and
Lincoln, a visitor may pass a winding staircase with a sign that holds
new meaning: "Careful Step Down."
Most House speakers don't stick around on Capitol Hill once they leave
the most powerful job in Congress, one that puts its occupant second in
the line of succession to the presidency.
» Click to enlarge image
U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert sits in his office at the U.S.
Capitol in August 2004. With the Democratic victory in November,
Hastert will be changing quarters when he steps down as speaker.
(STNG File Photo)
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But with the House set to adjourn today, Hastert will return to
becoming just another congressman -- one of some 200 Republicans with
no leadership titles in front of their names -- in January, two days
after his 65th birthday.
The Kendall County Republican will take a $40,000-plus pay cut from his
current salary of $212,100 -- and the concerns of constituents in his
district stretching westward from the Fox River to the Mississippi
River will become more paramount than moving a lame-duck president's
agenda.
"The speaker is a very grounded person and understands voters
ultimately make the decisions, and he respects that. And he wants to
get back to work for the district in Illinois," says his spokesman, Ron
Bonjean.
Colleagues say he wants to work on telecommunications and health care,
two issues he focused on before becoming the longest-serving Republican
speaker in history.
There's speculation Hastert won't stick around long, that he will
resign after laying the groundwork for a successor to keep the seat in
GOP hands. Bonjean insists that Hastert is committed to serving both
years of his 11th term.
They certainly couldn't be any worse than the past two years, when his
image as a regular guy who never adopted the airs of high office
plummeted with one scandal after another, and what Republicans took as
a mandate from the 2004 election was squandered on an increasingly
unpopular war and an ill-fated Social Security overhaul.
Holds himself responsible
House GOP Conference Chairman Adam Putnam, a third-term lawmaker who
was mentored by Hastert, said the speaker holds himself responsible for
the loss of 29 Republican seats to Democrats last month and his party's
control of the House.
"He probably puts more blame on himself than he deserves," said Putnam, R-Fla. "That is the kind of man he is."
Times weren't always so bad. Hastert was the point man responsible more
than anyone else for driving President George W. Bush's first-term
agenda through Congress: tax cuts, school reform, collapsed trade
barriers and the war on terrorism.
The piece de resistance was a massive expansion of Medicare to include
government-subsidized prescription drugs for people older than 65. The
very idea of it was repugnant to many conservatives, but Hastert held
the roll call open for more than three hours in an all-night session to
wrangle just enough votes to pass it.
Democrats cried foul at how Republicans had laid claim to one of their
social pillars, but the GOP picked up more seats the next election.
Downturn with DeLay
But events quickly soured with the indictment and then resignation of
Tom DeLay; the Jack Abramoff influence-peddling scandal; and the sexual
come-ons by Rep. Mark Foley to former teenage House pages.
Earlier this year, Hastert came under fire from watchdog groups for
winning federal funding for the proposed Prairie Parkway linking
Interstate 88 in central Kane County to Interstate 80 in Grundy County,
while reaping a $1.8 million profit from land deals a few miles away
from the road's location. He denied any connection.
Dallas Ingemunson, Kendall County Republican leader, longtime friend of
Hastert and a partner in the land deals, said in an interview that
Hastert is coping well with what's happened.
"He's a tough guy. He's a wrestler. He knows how to take wins and losses," said Ingemunson. "He's taking it well."
Former Rep. Tom Ewing of Pontiac, a longtime Hastert friend who is now
a lobbyist, acknowledged there will be some adjustments. In addition to
the pay cut and one of the most plum offices in D.C., Hastert is losing
a limo and driver, the security detail accompanying his every step and
a leadership staff of more than 30 aides.
"He's the kind of man who can be lower down the ladder and not be
destroyed by it," Ewing said. "He can be the hired hand and he can be
the boss. He's done both and not afraid of either one."