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American Morning

Senate Shakeup Under Way in Washington

Aired June 05, 2001 - 09:01   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Let's go ahead and start with the political power shift underway in Washington. Democrats are preparing to take control of the Senate from the Republicans, and lawmakers will spend much of today working out details of the shift.

CNN national correspondent Bob Franken joining us from Capitol Hill with more on the Senate shakeup on this Tuesday morning - Bob.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I almost thought, gee, what did I miss?

KAGAN: Yes, a whole day, apparently.

FRANKEN: Well, actually you're not going to miss very much if you watch this story unfold - this historical story unfold. For instance, you will be interested to know that within the last hour or so, the soon-to-be Senate Majority Leader, Tom Daschle, arrived, as he does every morning about this time. Of course he's been the Minority Leader and continues to be until tomorrow when the power actually switches here in the Capitol. That is what's going to happen tomorrow.

What's going to happen today is a bunch of behind-the-scenes meetings because there's really a lot to work out, mainly, negotiations between Republicans and Democrats over exactly what the ground rules are going to be, particularly on the committees. There's a parliamentary quirk, which means that even though the Democrats will take over the Senate and take over the committee chairmanships, the quirk leaves it at the fact that the Republicans, in many cases, will still have majorities on those committees. And the Republicans are insisting that they will not give that up unless they get assurances from the Democrats that the Democrats will cooperate on the judicial appointments of the president. Big problem.

The Democrats, of course, consider that a major, major issue. They're relishing the idea that they may be able to stop some of these appointments so that could be a very big problem going on today. It would manifest itself tomorrow in a confrontation on the Senate floor but that would occur after Senator Robert Byrd took over as the Senate President. He, the Democrat from West Virginia, taking over from Republican Strom Thurmond. His first act would be to appoint the man we just saw arrive, Tom Daschle, as the Majority Leader, and then the takeover will have been complete. All this brought on, of course, by Senator Jeffords of Vermont becoming an Independent, agreeing to vote with the Democrats. His desk is literally being unbolted from the floor, moved over to the Democratic side as Republicans are now hoping that they can somehow figure some way to move somebody's desk over on the other side.

So there's a lot of maneuvering going on. It's a momentous shift, and you'll be watching it here - Daryn.

KAGAN: That we will, Bob. Now, the significance of the numbers here of 50 Democrats, not so much in terms of votes but in terms of the power of which issues come to the floor of the Senate and which get attention and which will get eventually voted on, so what will the top Democratic priorities be once they do take control of the Senate?

FRANKEN: Well, there are a lot of priorities, but the ones to watch will be the ones that presumably will come out of these reformed committees. For instance, prescription drug benefits. This has been one of the Democrats favorite issues for a long time that senior citizens should be given access to the very prescription drugs which now extend their lives. This has been one that the Democrats that have claimed as their own. You can expect that to be a priority.

The patient's bill of rights. Of course there's been a huge fight for a long time whether people who are clients of health plans can have the right to sue those health plans when they're not satisfied with the result. There's going to be also the question about energy, there's going to be the question about the environment, all issues that separate the Democrat and Republican parties and it's just going to be a matter of emphasis.

One other thing to look for and that is the power of the House of Representatives. The House leaders - the Republican leaders say they will now become the fortress against anything that the Democrats in the Senate try and do. House people have, for the longest time, felt ignored. That's going to become quite the battleground now.

KAGAN: Bob Franken on Capitol Hill on a topic to bring up a little bit later on as well. Thank you.

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