WASHINGTON — The selection of Rep. Jeb Hensarling as the Republican co-chair of the joint committee on deficit reduction signals a hardening of partisan lines in advance of the looming congressional battle over taxes and spending.
Hensarling, a Texan who serves as chairman of the House Republican caucus and as vice chair of the House Financial Services Committee, is an anti-tax stalwart who has shown an unwillingness to compromise with Democrats on deficit reduction.
Hensarling's appointment on Wednesday came one day after Sen. Patty Murray of Washington was selected as the committee's Democratic co-chair. Given that Murray is in charge of fundraising efforts for Senate Democratic candidates in 2012, she also appears unlikely to be the champion of a bipartisan compromise.
During the current congressional session, Hensarling has voted with the Republican Party 91% of the time, according a database maintained by the Washington Post. Murray has voted with the Democratic Party 94% of the time.
Despite the partisan choices, two close observers of the process were unwilling Wednesday to rule out the possibility that the committee will strike a bargain.
Paul Posner, a professor of public administration at George Mason University, said that the committee's members have been expected to reflect the views of their respective caucuses, and to represent the wishes of the leaders of their parties.
"And now it's up to the leaders to use this committee and implement the compromise, the grand bargain," Posner said. "I'm not that optimistic it's going to happen, but it's conceivable it could."
Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, said that people are too quick to rule out the possibility of a compromise.
"There's plenty of reason to be pessimistic about a deal, after what the nation has seen over the past couple of months," Sabato wrote in an e-mail. "But it is too early and too cynical to assume that all committee members are automatons who cannot think this problem through."
Wayne Abernathy, executive vice president for financial institutions policy at the American Bankers Association, said the appointments by House Speaker John Boehner, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell do not contain any surprises.
"I think their goal was to appoint knowledgeable people who reflect their particular caucus," Abernathy said. "It seems that they're following their promise."
The joint committee's ability to reach a compromise depends on whether Republicans will budge from their position that a debt-reduction agreement cannot include revenue hikes and, conversely, whether Democrats will agree to a deal composed only of spending cuts.
Hensarling was previously a member of the Bowles-Simpson commission on deficit reduction, which recommended nearly $4 trillion in deficit reduction by 2020, relying on a combination of spending cuts and revenue increases. Hensarling voted against that bipartisan plan.
In an op-ed article explaining his opposition to the Bowles-Simpson plan, Hensarling wrote, "Using history as my guide, when tax increases have been called for in the past to be coupled with spending restraints, the tax increases usually materialize and the spending restraints do not."
In April, Hensarling voted for Rep. Paul Ryan's budget, which relied entirely on spending cuts to reduce budget deficits. On the Financial Services Committee, Hensarling is a prominent foe of government-sponsored housing giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and has introduced legislation calling for their dismantlement.
The joint committee, which was part of the deal that allowed for an increase in the debt ceiling, will be composed of six Democrats and six Republicans, drawn from both the House and the Senate. It is charged with finding $1.5 trillion in deficit reduction by Nov. 23. If a majority of the committee's members cannot agree to a plan, a package of cuts to defense spending and to the discretionary domestic budget will take effect.
The other Republicans on the committee are Rep. Dave Camp of Wisconsin, Rep. Fred Upton of Michigan, Sen. John Kyl of Arizona, Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio, and Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania. Also on the committee are Democratic Sens. John Kerry of Massachusetts and Max Baucus of Montana. The committee's three Democratic House members have yet to be named.
