By Kate Nocera

Politico

May 3, 2012

For all the talk of “fixing Washington,” two Republican freshmen are finding that actually doing so may be a lonely crusade.

Reps. Scott Rigell (R-Va.) and Reid Ribble (R-Wis.) started the Fix Congress Now caucus with high hopes back in January. Four months later, it’s a caucus of four — out of 435 members of the House.

“Before I even took the oath, I remember talking to a member about how complex everything is. … I said, ‘Gosh, well let’s just fix that. He just looked at me and started laughing because he’s been there a lot longer than I had. He said, ‘You really don’t understand, do you?’” Rigell said.

“I live on the razor’s edge of naiveté and idealism,” he added.

But maybe that’s why they call first-year lawmakers freshmen.

Their ideas run counter to many of the reasons people get into politics in the first place. Rigell and Ribble want to decentralize power, end careerism in Washington and reduce the number of committees.

Rigell said he’s told prospective members he has high expectations of them. About 10 or 12 representatives have expressed interest in joining, but there’s a lot of work to do, he said. It’s not something for members who “just want to stick their head under a tent and say, ‘OK, I’d like to fix Congress too.’”

The lack of interest doesn’t seem to bother him.

“If you can’t be active, then I’d rather have fewer members,” he said. “It’ll be interesting, even to me, to see where all this goes.”

But behind the scenes, this do-gooder caucus has been met with skepticism from members of one of the least popular and least-productive Congresses in modern American history.

Rigell said many of his ideas, which include term limits, an end to congressional pensions and committee consolidation, are met with, at times, “cocked heads and smiles.” He concedes the ideas are a “very heavy lift.”

“One of the things that really struck me was the overlap in jurisdiction in committees, and [I] was told one reason we can’t unwind some of that is because the committee chairmen would never give up their authority,” he said. “I was struck by this — that someone would place their own interest ahead of what is best for the institution and the country.”

That may have been surprising to Rigell, but less so for Rep. Jim Cooper (D-Tenn.) a longtime advocate for congressional reform, who has agreed to join the freshmen on their quest. He, along with Rep. Kurt Schrader (D-Ore.), are the other two caucus members.

Cooper is supportive of the work they are setting out to do, but the long-serving Blue Dog Democrat is guarded in his optimism.

“This may be the worst possible time in our history to start a caucus like this, because we’re heading into six months of ugly partisanship,” Cooper said. “But there’s never been a greater need for something like this either. So I’m hopeful the members can do the right thing for the country during an election year.”

“They’ve got good hearts and are trying to do the right thing,” he added. “The challenge in Congress is to get Congress to swallow the pill. It’s a bit like veterinary medicine. If the horse won’t swallow the pill, then the medicine won’t do any good.”

But trying to buck the Washington status quo hasn’t hurt the two in their conference, either. Majority Leader Eric Cantor of Virginia stumped for Rigell during his 2010 campaign, calling him a potential “star player for our conference,” and the two remain close. Ribble also was recently named to the Transportation conference committee.

The potential for partisanship, especially when it comes to voting, is where Cooper gets skeptical.

“The real test of leadership comes when you put the country first. When I see 99 [percent] party loyalty, I do not see someone who is putting the country first,” he said. “I’m hopeful members of this caucus will reduce their loyalty to their party and start putting their country first. That’s a truly radical thought in Washington.”

Still, Rigell, Ribble, Cooper and Schrader are trying something else radical: They are talking to one another in a civilized way.

Bringing “civility” back to the people’s House is a top priority for the caucus, and it starts simply enough with meetings and some dinner-table diplomacy. They’ve met a handful of times at Rigell’s home, often over food, to start setting their priorities and agenda.

“First, you have to know each other’s names, and that makes you less likely to hate them. Once you learn something about them, you are even less likely to hate them,” Cooper said of cross-party tensions. “Just having dinner makes a surprisingly big difference.”

A lack of civility in the House bothered Ribble from the start of his term.

“It’s OK for us to have disagreements with each other, it’s OK to have Democrats and Republicans debate vigorously,” Ribble said. “But there needs to be a higher level of honesty, integrity and civility in this place. There are all these half truths, but half truths are still a half lie.”

“We really are just trying to get members of Congress to talk to each other. That would be a good first step.”

Ribble and Rigell are now entering their first reelection bids, and though both have self-imposed term limits (Rigell of 12 years, and Ribble of eight), they’re hopeful they can change the tone — even if fellow lawmakers dismiss their efforts as naive.

“My work here isn’t done,” Rigell said. “I’ve referred to it as a season of public service; it’s not who I am, it’s what I’m doing.”

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