Having taken control of both chambers of Congress for the first time in nine years, Republicans begin their reign tomorrow by choosing new leaders. Despite some last-minute talk of a leadership "insurrection" by far-righters like Reps. Louie Gohmert or Ted Yoho, the 114th will almost certainly be governed by House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio and soon-to-be Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, familiar to most Americans over the last six years primarily for being against whatever policies President Barack Obama favors.
The more interesting question is whether the 114th Congress will be like the 113th or the 112th, its do-nothing predecessors mired in gridlock, or whether Messrs. Boehner and McConnell will be interested more in governance and seeking common ground with Democrats rather than appeasing their tea party wing. In recent weeks, a great deal of lip service has been paid to the possibility that progress might actually be made, but we remain deeply skeptical.
It's one thing to peel off some Democratic votes in the Senate to ram through legislation approving the Keystone XL pipeline, a project that even under the most optimistic appraisal would have limited benefits for the nation while worsening the outlook for climate change, or perhaps to create a similar coalition to eliminate some provision of Obamacare such as the unpopular tax on medical devices (which would merely serve to increase the federal deficit by about $30 billion). But it's quite another to tackle something meaningful like fixing U.S. transportation infrastructure or reforming the corporate tax code.
Let's face it, even if a Keystone bill passed, it would be vetoed by President Obama. What does such an exercise in politics accomplish? Not much. The same might be said of any significant attack on the Affordable Care Act. If the GOP's only goal is to force vetoes by Mr. Obama, that's not a demonstration of responsible governance, it's a sign that the midterm elections haven't changed a thing inside the beltway. Voters across the country will look at the 13 new senators and 58 new House members and wonder why they bothered.
But there are areas where moderate Democrats and Republicans could find common ground, and the hope is that the veteran GOP leaders can seize this opportunity. That arch-conservatives are already grousing about this possibility — at least sufficiently to stage a mini-rebellion — is probably an indication that pragmatism is getting serious consideration. The focus now is appropriately on Mr. McConnell whose 54-vote majority is well shy of the 60 votes he needs to move any legislation of consequence, which makes him the "decider" on Capitol Hill.
What might Mr. McConnell tackle that would be of consequence? That's a relatively easy call because so many of the bills to choose from are already overdue, like strengthening cyber security (the Sony Corp. hack having provided ample evidence of why it's needed) or U.S. Postal Service reform. There's a six-year transportation bill that's been going nowhere for lack of a funding source and a plan to lower the nation's corporate tax rate, both of which most reasonable people believe are necessary to keep the U.S. competitive in the global market.
None of these are new ideas. Both sides of the aisle have been working on them for years, but it might require some compromise to finalize the deals. Might Senator McConnell be willing to challenge his party's extremists and endorse a gas tax increase or knock out some special interest tax loopholes in order to lower the corporate tax in a revenue neutral manner? Either would roil the right-wing, but they would also demonstrate that Republicans are serious about leading the country, not just currying favor with the Fox News and talk-radio crowd.
No doubt Democrats are hoping Republicans will fail this leadership test. They'd much rather spend the coming months grousing about Louisiana Rep. Steve Scalise, the GOP House whip, and his chat with white supremacists a dozen years ago then actually face up to tough votes on issues like tax reform or pending trade deals. A Keystone bill doesn't scare Democrats, not like a GOP embrace of centrist, pro-growth energy, transportation and tax policies would. The coming months provide an enormous opportunity for Republicans to demonstrate that they are more than just the "Party of No" and can actually say yes to getting things done.