Gingrich Getting Soft, House Conservatives Say Armey Hints He May Oppose Budget Plan As Dissidents Slam Conciliatory Approach

In a direct challenge to the authority of House Speaker Newt Gingrich, 50 rebellious GOP House members expressed outrage on Tuesday over the leadership’s drift away from their harder-line conservative approach.

Majority Leader Dick Armey of Texas, the No. 2 House leader, repeatedly failed to defend the speaker when questioned by reporters. Asked whether Gingrich is “doing an effective job as speaker,” Armey replied, “You all have a nice day now, ya’ hear?”

Armey appeared to support the dissidents’ goal of pushing the leadership to the right.

“I obviously applaud that kind of effort,” Armey told reporters hours before the dissidents gathered for a private meeting.

Rep. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said he called the meeting to discuss “the Republican agenda.” But Graham disavowed an anonymous letter calling for a vote on whether Gingrich should remain as speaker.

The unsigned letter, which was written on congressional stationery, argues that last week’s Republican defeat was “only the latest example of leadership blunders.” Some GOP lawmakers suggested that the mailing was political sabotage.

Armey left open the prospect of opposing the balanced budget agreement reached last month between President Clinton and GOP leaders in both the House and Senate.

“The basic rule around this town is that if you’re not in the room and you don’t make the agreement, you’re not bound by it,” Armey said. “You just have to understand you’re not going to get acquiescent, conforming behavior to everything that two or three or four … big shots think they agreed to.”

The discord comes in the wake of loud disappointment many conservatives expressed about the budget deal. Some of them also were furious that the party last week capitulated to Clinton’s demand that it drop unrelated measures - including one designed to prevent government shutdowns during budget deadlocks - attached to a bill providing disaster relief for flood-ravaged states.

Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, one of Gingrich’s earliest allies, said GOP leaders “totally caved” when faced with Clinton’s veto.

“That’s like throwing down your weapons and fleeing the battlefield at the first volley,” he said. “I’m extremely frustrated. We should have been prepared to deal with that.”

Conservatives said they are prepared to press for amendments to the spending bills for the coming fiscal year to advance their causes.

Those amendments could include conservative langugage on abortion funding, affirmative action, environmental regulations and religious liberties. GOP efforts in late 1995 and again this month to impose their will by loading up must-pass appropriations bills with amendments objectionable to the White House have failed - yet House conservatives indicate they will try again.

“These guys - the hard core - seem to want to keep getting hit over the head,” said Rep. David Obey, Wis., the ranking Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee. “The problem is it affects everybody in their caucus and in the House.”

Looming elections for two House GOP leadership posts on July 16 could serve as a proxy for a debate over Gingrich. The race for House Republican Conference vice chairman pits Rep. Jim Nussle, R-Iowa, a one-time Gingrich ally who is now being touted as the “anti-Gingrich” candidate, against Rep. Jennifer Dunn, R-Wash., who is seen as a Gingrich supporter.

This isn’t the first time GOP conservatives have taken aim at Gingrich. They erupted in anger earlier this year after he suggested he might be willing to postpone action on cutting taxes until after Congress approved enough spending cuts to balance the budget.

Another rebellion occurred when Gingrich proposed increased budgets for the House’s committee operations, and 11 conservatives teamed up with Democrats to kill that proposal.

Gingrich began this year under the cloud of a protracted ethics investigation into his political affairs. He apologized for various miscues and was ordered to pay a $300,000 penalty. Since then, some Republicans have complained that Gingrich seems more interested in a moderate course that will help his political rehabilitation than in charting an aggressively conservative course.

“(Gingrich’s) a substantial reason why we’re in the majority, but he’s a substantial reason we’re in trouble,” said one GOP leader. “I do believe we’re off track.”