Simpson ‘thrilled’ by Wyoming senator’s chance to lead committee

Sen. Mike Enzi will do an excellent job as chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, predicts the man Enzi replaced in the Senate 18 years ago.

“He will have enormous influence,” retired Sen. Al Simpson said. “Mike Enzi is one of the most well-respected men in the Senate. He works with both sides. He gets things done.”

Simpson speaks from experience. The son of a former Wyoming governor and senator, he served 12 years in the Wyoming Legislature before being elected to the Senate in 1978. Simpson stepped down from the Senate in 1996 and saw Enzi, whom he had befriended and encouraged, elected to fill the seat.

Simpson, 83, said he feels Enzi, 70, will serve the nation well while leading the Budget Committee.

“I just could not be more thrilled,” he said.

Enzi said Friday he is eager for the 2015 congressional session to begin.

“I’ve got a number of things I want to accomplish,” he said.

For several weeks, both Enzi and Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., wanted to lead the Budget Committee. They entered the Senate together in 1997 and have served an equal number of years on the committee. Sessions was the ranking member, a position for the party that does not control the Senate, but Enzi had a seniority edge based on winning a game of chance when they were sworn into office 18 years ago.

Simpson said he knows why Sessions agreed to step aside and allow Enzi to become chairman.

“Because Mike went to him — I talked to Mike — and the committee would have supported him,” he said. “He’s a facilitator, he’s a guy who makes things work.”

Enzi gave Sessions a key role in focusing on welfare reform and reducing government duplication and waste. He also had lofty praise for a man he refers to as “an old friend.”

“Jeff is an outstanding leader and an outstanding speaker,” Enzi said in a release. “If this were football, Jeff would be an all-star linebacker, corner, and safety all at the same time. He is our first line of defense on many issues.”

On Friday, Enzi said the two senators met several times before Sessions agreed not to submit his name to the committee, which will vote Wednesday to select its chairman. The Republicans will hold an 11-9 edge on the committee, based on the new makeup of the Senate. There are 54 Republicans in the Senate, 44 Democrats and two independents who caucus with the Democrats; both serve on the Budget Committee.

Enzi said he and Sessions talked about the chairmanship before Sessions agreed to drop out of the race.

“I hope it was because he thought I could actually lead us through the process,” he said. But Enzi said he feels if it had come down to a vote, he would have won.

Simpson said while both senators wanted the gavel, he thinks Sessions will accept a supporting role.

“It’s just a case of accommodating each other,” he said. “There’s no bitterness there. The country will be ever the better for it.”

That’s especially the case with the debt headed to $20 trillion, he said. Enzi’s “Penny Plan,” which calls for cutting 1 percent from all federal programs, could have a very positive impact, Simpson said.

“He’s a CPA, a guy who knows numbers,” he said. “You have to realize if you walked up to 95 percent of the people in Congress, they wouldn’t know what the hell was up. They’re not accountants. They’re not money people.”

Simpson said Enzi, who has worked as an accountant, had learned about government budgets while serving as mayor of Gillette, during his decade in the Legislature and now in Congress.

“And always doing it right and always doing it with care,” he said.

Enzi said he plans to have a budget prepared by April 15. If passed, it would be the first one since the Senate and House approved a budget resolution on April 29, 2009. Congress used other means to spend money and set priorities but no long-range budget plan has been in place since then.

“I intend to meet the budget deadline,” Enzi said. “It’s going to be a major task for me.”

He said he plans to work to implement his penny plan. It will not be part of the first budget but will be debated this year in the Senate, he said.

“There’s groundwork that has to be laid,” Enzi said. “I think America understands it better than the Senate does.”

A return to tradition

In addition to chairing the Budget Committee, Enzi will serve on the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP); Finance; Small Business and Homeland Security; and Government Affairs committees.

He said there will “absolutely” be a different atmosphere to the Senate, with Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the new leader of the chamber, pledging to bring up bills and allow votes on them, unlike Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., who held tight control on what was submitted to the full Senate.

“That’s how you correct bills to get rid of unintended consequences,” Enzi said.

The Senate will no longer deal with comprehensive bills that deliver “everything in one wheelbarrow,” he said.

He said there are 100 senators and 435 representatives who can look for imperfections. The committee process is also important, he said, since now bills will go to  a committee where people are “intensely interested” in the issue.

There may be 200 amendements offered in a committee but they are usually variations of 10 or 12 topics, Enzi said. Now those ideas can be smoothed over in the committees and then bills sent to the floor of the Senate.

He said this return to Senate traditions may be an adjustment for some members.

“About half the people here have never seen it operate that way,” he said.

Enzi said the Affordable Care Act — Obamacare — will likely undergo some changes, especially if the Supreme Court strikes down how tax credits and health insurance subsidies are paid in 36 states.

The court took up King v. Burwell in November and will hear the case this spring. Two-thirds of states have not set up their own health care exchanges but instead rely on the federal government’s program.

However, under what ACA proponents have called “a glitch,” a subsection of the law said payments can only come from “state-run exchanges.” While the Obama administration’s argument is that the federal government is acting as the state exchange, Enzi said most people he has heard from read the law to mean the states must do so.

King v. Burwell — one of four similar cases — could have landmark implications when a ruling is handed down in June or July.

Enzi said his “10-step plan,” first introduced in 2007, would have worked better. It calls for “market-based pooling and equalized tax treatment of health insurance for all Americans,” according to a statement on his website. “It proposes new market-based solutions that will enable uninsured working families to purchase private health insurance. The bill would expand choices and coverage and give individuals control over their health care and health records. It would also enhance health care quality and reduce costs.”

Enzi said he has made improving the nation’s heath-care system a goal throughout his public career. He said if Obamacare is altered, the nation would be better for it.

Changes in the Senate

Enzi said after the Nov. 4 election, in which the GOP gained control of the Senate, that he wanted to see who the ranking member would be on a committee before he agreed to chair it. The ranking member on the Senate Budget Committee will be Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont socialist who caucuses with the Democrats.

Enzi had a long pause during the phone interview when he was asked how he will work with Sanders.

“The most that you can do is keep the ranking member informed on what you are doing and see what his ideas are,” he said. “We’ll see. I get along fine with him. We have never talked much about principles; I know he is a defender of the poor and very liberal.”

Enzi said his goal is to try to find common ground, as he was able to do when he worked with the late Sen. Ted Kennedy. He said he will ask Democrats to make a list of issues they want to address.

“Sometimes, things show up on both lists,” Enzi said.

Enzi said he will hold roundtable discussions, in which committee members agree on what questions will be asked. They will then listen to people with experience and ideas on the issue and the panel of senators, appointed by Enzi, will then interact with them.

He said Kennedy liked the experience and told him it was a useful way to learn something before crafting a bill.

Simpson predicts Enzi and Sanders will work well together despite their sharp disagreements on issues.

“Sure they will,” he said. “Because Bernie just kind of rants. He will get red in the face, raise his hands, curse the world. Bernie is certainly no lightweight but Bernie can get irrational at times.”

Simpson and Enzi both served with Kennedy, and both Wyoming Republicans had good relationships with the Massachusetts liberal icon. Simpson said while Sanders and Kennedy shared a world view, Kennedy was an effective legislator, while Sanders is more strident and has less influence.

He said something else in Enzi’s favor is the fact that he is not considering a run for president.

“Oh sure, it releases all the hidden motives,” Simpson said. Other senators know they can do business with Enzi, he said, since he is not looking to score points for a campaign.

“I’ve see wonderful people running for president,” he said. “They then become suspect, once their hat is in the ring.”

After the Republicans took control of the Senate after the 1980 “Reagan Revolution” swept several entrenched Democrats from office, Simpson became chairman of Veterans Affairs Committee as well as a subcommittee on immigration and nuclear regulation. He said two Democrats he was working with, Gary Hart from Colorado and Alan Cranston of California, were eyeing runs for the White House.

“I told them, you run for president. Don’t use this committee for your quest,” Simpson said. He said he never considered a run for president.

There are other changes when control of the Senate changes, some that seem minor to outsiders. Enzi said he will not seek a different office now that the GOP controls the Senate. Simpson said that can become an issue, as senators cast an eye on a spot that is larger or better situated.

He said Cranston had a very nice office, complete with fireplaces and chandeliers, and the Californian was very fond of it. After the 1980 election, Simpson said he told his colleague he was interested in relocating there.

“I said, ‘This is just right for our little state.’ He just turned as white as a sheet.”

Simpson said he laughed and told Cranston he had no intention of seeking that space. But he said he told him that when Democrats regained control of the Senate — which they did in 1997 — he didn’t want someone eyeing his office covetously.

“I told him, ‘When you people take over the next time, don’t let them throw Simpson’s ass out into the street,’” he recalled with a laugh. “Sure enough, the Democrats came in, they came to my beautiful office. I said, ‘Go talk to assistant leader.’”

Simpson said the change in power in Congress is often a spectacle.

“It is a shocking thing to watch,” he said. “The staff members who have been sticking it to you on the other side suddenly realize your staff members are going to be sticking it to them.”

Enzi said he has checked on the available offices and decided to stay right where he is, in 379A Senate Russell Office Building. As far as desks, he said he likes the one he has, which was formerly used by Sen. Cliff Hansen, a Republican from Wyoming who served 12 years in the Senate after four years as governor and was the grandfather of Gov. Matt Mead.

It’s in a good location near the center of the chamber and on an aisle, Enzi said, so he is staying put.

He is looking at moving to a different “hideaway,” as the small offices off the Senate floor are called. Enzi said he uses the room for meeting with constituents and other gatherings.

When he first got to the Senate, he was assigned a hideaway on the lower level. It was called “The Terrace,” he said with a laugh, but it had no windows.

Enzi has since moved up to an auxiliary office with a nice view of the Supreme Court and other Washington landmarks. It’s one of the perks of seniority — along with chairing one of the most powerful committees in the Senate.