Hastert Launches a Partisan Policy (washingtonpost.com) By Charles Babington

In scuttling major intelligence legislation that he, the president and most lawmakers supported, Speaker J. Dennis Hastert last week enunciated a policy in which Congress will pass bills only if most House Republicans back them, regardless of how many Democrats favor them.

Hastert’s position, which is drawing fire from Democrats and some outside groups, is the latest step in a decade-long process of limiting Democrats’ influence and running the House virtually as a one-party institution. Republicans earlier barred House Democrats from helping to draft major bills such as the 2003 Medicare revision and this year’s intelligence package. Hastert (R-Ill.) now says such bills will reach the House floor, after negotiations with the Senate, only if “the majority of the majority” supports them. …

In a little-noticed speech in the Capitol a year ago, Hastert said one of his principles as speaker is “to please the majority of the majority.”

“On occasion, a particular issue might excite a majority made up mostly of the minority,” he continued. “Campaign finance is a particularly good example of this phenomenon. The job of speaker is not to expedite legislation that runs counter to the wishes of the majority of his majority.” …

Some congressional scholars say Hastert is emphasizing one element of his job to the detriment of another. As speaker, said Norman Ornstein of the American Enterprise Institute, “you are the party leader, but you are ratified by the whole House. You are a constitutional officer,” in line for the presidency after the vice president. At crucial times, he said, a speaker must put the House ahead of his party.