A memorable 1970’s putdown, courtesy of Sen. Eugene McCarthy, is patent today: “The role of moderate Republicans is to follow Nixon into battle and shoot the wounded.”
Actually, some Republicans in the past have demonstrated integrity and courage, such as Sen. Margaret Chase Smith with her “declaration of conscience” against Joe McCarthy. Barry Goldwater told President Nixon in 1974 that only 12-15 senators would still vote against his conviction and removal from office. Nixon soon resigned and flew off to San Clemente.
In the last decade, however, about the only GOP gesture of independence was Sen. John McCain’s thumbs-down on the Senate floor, which saved the Affordable Care Act. And occasional actions of Lisa Murkowski and Mitt Romney.
Now, sounds of discontent are being heard in the provinces. The Elon Musk wrecking crew has decreed 60 layoffs at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, site of the nation’s premier nuclear-waste cleanup. Musk provoked a blunt message from the Tri-City Herald to Republican U.S. Rep. Dan Newhouse: Do something, say something.
“The Republican majority in Congress, of which Newhouse is a member, has let the President render the legislative branch all but irrelevant,” the Herald argued, asking: “Will funding for the Hanford cleanup be next on the chopping block as a new Secretary of Energy refocuses the department on fossil fuels?”
The Herald noted, “Newhouse doesn’t owe Trump any favors. In a one-time note of independence, Newhouse voted to impeach Trump after the January 6 insurrection. In a payback, Trump backed a MAGA opponent last year and called Newhouse a “weak and pathetic RINO” (Republican In Name Only).
Newhouse is a symbol of wimpy response to Trump-Musk overreach and government gutting. He has mildly voiced “concerns that the consequences of these workforce reductions will have long-term complications at Hanford, the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, and the Bonneville Power Administration.”
Similarly, Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kansas, is “asking for information” about cuts to farm programs. And Senate Majority Leader John Thune says he will see “if there are things that need to be addressed.”
Damned right there are both short and long term implications. Look to the gutting of the BPA, the region’s principal power supplier, and redefinition of Hanford’s high-level and low-level nuclear waste.
Eastern Washington voters respond to the language of less government but depend on big government. Hanford, PNNL, the Bureau of Reclamation, Fairchild Air Force Base, the Wainwright VA Hospital in Walla Walla, all are major employers in Newhouse’s district and next door in the district of newly elected GOP Rep. Michael Baumgartner.
Here is the opportunity for frustrated folk to make a real difference. Tell these two Republicans to represent your people. Don’t be timid before the bully Trump. With the GOP owning a narrow 220-215 House advantage (smaller with three vacancies), you can curb the wretched excesses. Newhouse needed support from Democrats and Independents to survive.
Eastern Washington voters, handing in ballots for Trump, asked nothing for their support. And that is what they got: Trump-Musk attacking their health, safety, and economic underpinnings. In face of these threats, Reps. Newhouse and Baumgartner are acting like a pair of supine dorks.
This article also appeared in The Cascadia Advocate.
