John King: Power shakeup in the Senate and other political news

John King

John King is CNN's senior White House correspondent.

CNN Host: Good morning and welcome to you and all to CNN.com Newsroom, John King. The Democrats will attempt to re-organize the Senate this week. Will Republicans try to block the effort?

John King: They won't try to block the effort, but there are some organizational fights that have to be litigated over committee staff and some committee assignments.

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Question from chat room: What do you think Tom Daschle's approach will be as Senate Majority Leader?

John King: Well that is the biggest new political dynamic in Washington. Senator Daschle is soft-spoken--but don't be fooled. He also is a tested partisan when he thinks it is in the interest of the Democrats. He promises to work with President Bush and the Republicans in Congress, but also to try to shift the focus onto issues he believes Mr. Bush would prefer be on the back burner - like an HMO patients bill of rights. The Democrats and the White House are pretty far apart on that one, so it will serve as an interesting platform for seeing how Senator Daschle chooses to operate and how the White House and Republicans respond to the change as well.

Question from chat room: Which issues/ bills will Democrats attempt to vote on first?

John King: Patients bill of rights is at the top of their list. The education bill also is still before the Congress, although it is pretty far along. Senator Kennedy now chairs the Labor and Education Committee and he wants to raise the minimum wage; the Bush energy plan needs to go through committee and with Senator Bingaman now in charge of that committee, drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is most likely a non-starter. So there are a number of coming changes, with Democrats promising to make health care and education issues their early focus.

Question from chat room: John, how much has the criticism of Senator Lott grown or diminished since over the weekend from his cohorts?

John King: It has diminished in terms of the public criticism - mostly because the Senate returns on Tuesday and it is clear that those who considered challenging Senator Lott now didn't have the votes. So the Republicans are regrouping and for now focusing on Daschle and the Democrats. But the private grumbling is still fairly intense and Senator Lott will be tested in this new role as well.

Question from chat room: Does the House feel the impact of the senate changing into democratic control?

John King: The House becomes a very interesting place now. One could argue that with the Senate now more to the left, if you will, that it is important for conservatives to have the House stay more to the right -- so that when the House and Senate sit down to make compromises the conservatives have a strong beginning. Yet the Republican majority in the House is very narrow and many of the GOP moderates there share the concerns of Senators Jeffords, Snowe, Chafee, et al. So there will be a feeling out period in the House and while no one is talking about party switches, the House moderates -- Mike Castle of Delaware, Chris Shays of Connecticut -- they now feel they should be listened to more as well.

Question from chat room: Do you think the Senate will try to undo parts of Bush's tax relief?

John King: No. The tax package will be signed by the president on Thursday here at the White House. But there will be efforts to "build" on it, and some of those one might argue would "undo" or at least change the emphasis. The tax cut and the budget resolution don't leave a lot of leeway for spending in the short term. But the minimum wage is one area the Democrats say they are committed to moving quickly on. And with the Democrats in charge, it is up in the air as to whether that legislation will also include more tax breaks for business. That is one of the issues where the House will have a lot of influence.

Question from chat room: Mr. King, is John McCain going to remain a major thorn in Bush's side? And do some think that paybacks are hell for Bush because of past treatment of moderates by the Bush White House?

John King: Senator McCain is active on a number of issues at which he is at odds with the president, so in that sense he is a thorn. But he spoke to Bush on Saturday and assured him firsthand he was not going to leave the Republican Party - and that he had no plans to run for president again. Some actually believe the reports this weekend suggesting a McCain switch or run for president have put the senator in a box; he is under considerable pressure from Republicans to "behave."

As for paybacks, the White House is learning every day how difficult it is to govern with such a narrowly divided Congress -- and how much having the White House changes relations within a political party -- remember how much tension Bill Clinton had with fellow Democrats after he won - and Democrats had the White House for the first time since Jimmy Carter.

Question from chat room: People have said that some moderate Republicans could switch to Independents, but what about the very conservative Democrats?

John King: There is little incentive to switch now if you are a Democrat in the Senate. Zell Miller of Georgia is talked about a lot but assures colleagues and friends he is staying put. We view this through the prism of Washington, but it is important to remember these people run back home - and if they are "conservative Democrats" or "moderate Republicans" that is the brand people bought when they voted for them. So it is a difficult - and risky choice - to switch parties in most cases.

CNN Host: What is on the president's agenda this week?

John King: As we chat, Mr. Bush is highlighting his proposed spending on the Everglades protection effort. He also signs the tax cut bill on Thursday and will travel to Iowa on Friday to celebrate that victory. And he is preparing for a big trip to Europe next week where he will have his first meeting with President Putin of Russia and directly face allies who are skeptical about his missile defense plan.

CNN Host: Do you have any final thoughts for us today?

John King: We have focused a lot on energy in recent weeks and that is one issue that will be in the spotlight in the new Senate environment -- California's Democrats, with some support from Republican colleagues in the House, are pushing for federal intervention on price caps, and it is a major difference with the White House and as such is worth watching because of the policy and political ramifications. And the administration wants to see if this temporary calm in the Middle East holds before deciding whether to raise its profile on the difficult diplomatic front there. That will also play out a bit this week.

CNN Host: Thanks for joining us today, John King. Talk to you again next week--same time, same place.

John King: Take care and thanks.

John King joined CNN.com Newsroom from his office at the White House in Washington, DC. The above is an edited transcript of the interview on Monday, June 04, 2001.

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