WASHINGTON -- The big Popsicle-orange trash bins that sit in the middle of otherwise hueless congressional offices, overflowing with the contents of cleaned-out desks, tell part of the story. So do the cardboard boxes piled up in hallways. So do the layoff letters that 1,500 House staffers received Thursday.
But even the visible signs of an institution turned upside down and inside out don't convey the scope of the revolution taking place on Capitol Hill.
As Republicans move into the rooms with a view and the positions of power for which they've been waiting -- in the House, at least -- 40 years, they are examining centuries-old protocols, rules and ways of legislative life for the 19,500 people who work in Congress.
Everything -- from the grandest of traditions, like the 204-year-old role of a House doorkeeper, to the smallest of idiosyncrasies, like the bucket of ice delivered to every office each day -- is vulnerable to the ax.
"It's a huge process," says Clerk of the House Donnald K. Anderson, whose 35-year career in Congress and salary of $122,932 ends in January, when the Republicans will appoint a new clerk. "Everything is on the table."
Indeed, the Republicans -- led by Rep. Newt Gingrich of Georgia, the likely next speaker, who rolled into power with promises of bold reform and a just-do-it-style "Contract with America" -- are examining every pocket and perk of the institution and its $2.3 billion budget for trims or complete wipeouts.
Among those items under the microscope: the committees that draft legislation; the personal staffs of every member of Congress; the "legislative service organizations" such as the Congressional Black Caucus; elevator operators, who push the buttons in fully automated elevators; in-house printing services; and even the most sacred of all niceties, the 7,233 inside and outside parking places for members and staff.
Rep. John Mica of Florida, vowing to "return the U.S. Capitol to the American people," is trying to convert 500 of those staff parking places to public use and to build a Capitol Visitors Center, paid for by private contributions.
The hatchet mentality has spread to the less reform-minded Senate, where Republicans called last week for a reduction of at least $200 million in costs for the next year. Their plan includes a 15 percent cut in committee staffs, the elimination of the Office of Technology Assessment and cuts in the 4,600-employee General Accounting Office, the investigative arm of Congress.
But as the incoming class tries to deliver on its vows of a leaner, more open government, subject to the same rules as average Americans, it is finding some of its lofty promises bumping up against reality -- and resistance within its own party.
On Friday, House Republicans announced plans to eliminate three committees and 25 subcommittees, change the name of 10 committees, cut the staffs of committees by one-third, limit committee chairmen's terms to six years, require members to vote in person rather than by proxy and make committee attendance records public.
"This is major reform," Rep. David Dreier of California said in announcing the committee changes Friday.
But not as major as many had expected. Protests from Republican lawmakers in line for committee chairmanships prevented transition leaders from getting rid of any more than three minor committees -- Post Office and Civil Service, the District of Columbia Committee and Merchant Marine and Fisheries -- among the 22 that exist.
In fact, Mr. Gingrich said Friday night that Republican transition leaders were arguing over the fate of three more committees.
"By the end of this project, I suspect I might be dining alone downstairs," Mr. Dreier said, alluding to the resistance he has met from senior Republicans who don't want to miss their chance at gavel-wielding.
And pressure on Republican leaders from the business community thwarted the dismantling of the Small Business Committee.
What's more, the probable elimination of the 29 legislative service organizations, or House caucuses, as a cost-savings measure, is meeting opposition from some Republicans, including Maryland's senior GOP representative, Constance A. Morella of Montgomery County.
'Dear Republican Colleague'
Ms. Morella, a moderate who falls outside Mr. Gingrich's inner circle of conservatives, plans to send out a "Dear Republican Colleague" letter tomorrow, urging her colleagues not to kill the caucuses. The groups -- which include the Women's Caucus, Black Caucus, Arts Caucus, and Arms Control and Foreign Policy Caucus -- employ staff with money from members' budgets.
Ms. Morella is particularly interested in protecting the Women's Caucus. She noted that it was "instrumental in passing some of the most important policy initiatives of this Congress, including the Family and Medical Leave Act and the Violence Against Women Act."
Another uncertainty is how far the Republicans are willing to go in their promises to open up the legislative process to the public.
Brian Lamb, executive director of C-SPAN, wrote to the Republican leaders in the House and Senate requesting greater access to Congress' activities, including the daily speaker's conference, all committee hearings and control of the cameras in the House and Senate chambers (now controlled by Congress).
House leaders have agreed to meet with Mr. Lamb to discuss the requests, but he has not received a response from the Senate leadership.
"This group said they want to change a lot of things, and we thought we'd take them up on their offer to present a more honest picture of what's going on," he said.
Opposition to some of the reforms is also coming from Democratic quarters. Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin of Maryland, who is leading the transition for Democrats, called plans announced Thursday to reorganize the nonlegislative offices "unfair" and "a major disruption."
The Republican transition leader, Rep. Jim Nussle of Iowa, said the reorganization, called the "GOP Open House," affords a more efficient and accountable operation. The new structure abolishes the doorkeeper's office -- which oversees cloakrooms, entrances the House floor and pages, as well as such services as the barbershop and mail folding room -- and transfers its functions to the sergeant-at-arms office as part of a streamlining effort.
Republican leaders sent letters last week to 1,500 administrative employees, informing them that "specific assurances of continued employment" could not be made to them, but that they could reapply for their jobs. The new House officers, appointed by Republicans, will decide who fills the jobs and which jobs get the ax.
Republicans denied a $3.9 million severance package, as well as pay for unused leave, to outgoing House staff members, who include clerks, janitors and cafeteria workers. (The Senate, which had two party turnovers in the 1980s, has a severance package for those who lose jobs.)
Democrats reacted angrily last week, noting that these are non partisan jobs on the chopping block. "To show such callous disregard for these workers and their families as the holidays approach is more than outrageous -- it's just plain cold-hearted and cruel," said House Democratic leader Richard A. Gephardt of Missouri.
Mr. Nussle insisted that the move was "absolutely not payback" to Democrats for 40 years in which Republicans were at the mercy of Democratic decision-making. "I don't believe severance appropriate."
The layoff notices contributed to the high anxiety and anticipation that have lately gripped Capitol Hill, contrasting with the quiet historic elegance of its hallways.
'Uncertainty of it all'
"The only thing that seems to be certain around here is the uncertainty of it all," said Ellis Woodward, press secretary to Rep. Lewis F. Payne Jr., a Virginia Democrat.
For his part, Mr. Anderson, who started as a page, graduated to elevator operator before fulfilling his dream and becoming clerk eight years ago, is spending his last days writing up status reports for his successor on every aspect of his job.
"They will have much more information than I had eight years ago, when I came in in a nonhostile takeover," said Mr. Anderson, a House history buff whose museum-like office is full of paintings on loan from the Metropolitan Museum of Art (that will go back), ship models from the U.S. Navy (that will go back) and original bills from the first Congress on loan from the National Archives (that will go back.)
"They're talking about some pretty lofty objectives," he said. "How far they'll get, time will tell."
There is no hiding his melancholy in leaving a place that's been a second home to him for 35 years. He says he takes comfort in believing that, if history is any indicator, the place will remain remarkably unchanged, however much it is tweaked and tuned.
"People come and go, ideologies come and go," says the outgoing clerk, "but it's basically the same institution it has always been."