House leaders also replaced Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Christopher H. Smith (R-N.J.), who was beloved by veterans and did not hold down spending the way leaders wanted. The new chairman is Rep. Steve Buyer (R-Ind.), who convinced party leaders during a rigorous job interview that he would be tougher.
A leadership aide described Smith as "just not a team player." To underscore their point, leaders not only demoted Smith but also removed him from the committee.
Late last week, the leadership picked veteran Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-Calif.) as the new chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. Lewis's first action was to oust staff director James W. Dyer, a 10-year veteran of the committee who was a frequent target of conservative critics. Hastert also added a seat to the Republican side of the committee, increasing his party's margin over Democrats from seven to eight.
"There is a purge going on around here," said Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.).
Critics say Republicans are taking a risk by further alienating Democrats, because President Bush may need a few Democrats to vote for his agenda items -- most notably, an overhaul of Social Security -- to give political cover to the GOP.
"They say they want bipartisanship," said Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.), who is to be announced today as the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. "I think they need it. But there is no room for it when they run a political and legislative strategy that is abhorrent to bipartisanship, then bemoan the lack of civility."
Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer (Md.) poked fun at the Republicans by handing out two pages of quotes from today's leaders railing against the arrogance of Democratic leaders before the GOP won control in 1994. "Republicans Backtrack on Ethics Principles from the 1980s and 1990s," blared his headline.
Defending his fellow Republicans, Rules Committee Chairman David Dreier (Calif.) said members of the public understand due process and the presumption of innocence and so will approve of last week's ethics rule change. He said that rather than autocracy, the tone that was being set was "strong leadership."
"We are a stronger party today than we were at the first of the week because we have so successfully worked through these things," he said.
Republican Conference Chairman Deborah Pryce (Ohio) said her party had showed "a strong voice" in the opening week of the 109th Congress. Asked whether ethics would linger as an issue, she said, "I think we did a good job of putting all that to bed."
