Dreier shares majority leader duties

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay resigned Wednesday after a Texas

grand jury indicted him and two political associates on criminal

charges of conspiracy in violation of Texas campaign finance laws,

putting local Rep. David Dreier in line to handle some of his duties.

DeLay called his resignation temporary, although he will remain a

member of the House. Dreier, who represents portions of La Crescenta

and has been chairman of the House Rules Committee since 1999, was

tapped to help shoulder the responsibilities of the House majority

leader.

House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Illinois) initially recommended

Dreier to take DeLay’s place, but instead announced late Wednesday

that Rep. Roy Blunt (R-Missouri), the GOP whip, would move into the

position, splitting some of DeLay’s duties with Dreier.

The announcement that Blunt would be taking DeLay’s place was not

a disappointment, said Jo Maney, Dreier’s spokeswoman.

“He would have had to give up the chairmanship of the rules

committee and that’s not something he wanted to do,” Maney said.

“This could be very temporary.... therefore, [Dreier] worked with

leadership all day long to figure out how to best move forward.”

Hastert’s initial announcement he would recommend Dreier for one

of the GOP’s most visible positions was good news for local

Republicans like Larry Zarian, who saw it as a sign of respect,

recognition of Dreier’s abilities and possibly a move to try and

shift the California political climate.

“Maybe the speaker is trying to change the climate in California,”

Zarian said. “I think it would give stature to the congressperson as

leader. David Dreier would garner a greater audience because of that

leadership. I think anything done in Washington and Sacramento is

political. The Speaker might have more in mind than respect for David

Dreier and his abilities. I just think it would be a bonus.”

Ken Miller, a government professor at Claremont McKenna College,

of which Dreier is an alumnus, worked with Dreier as an intern in the

early ‘80s and watched the congressman evolve into a moderate and

friendly face for the GOP.

“Dreier has for the past several years been the public face of

Republican congressional leadership,” Miller said. “On ‘Crossfire’

and other cable news shows, that’s one of his great strengths. He’s

articulate, he comes across well in public. I guess he would continue

to do that, and I think that’s one of the reasons why Hastert

nominated him.”

But the core support of the Republican party is overall

conservative, while Dreier is perceived as only economically

conservative, Miller said.

“He doesn’t emphasize issues like abortion,” Miller said. “He did

not vote for the constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage.

Those issues are not his issues. For religious conservatives in the

south, those are key issues for them.”

There may have been fear from the core GOP support that Dreier

might push his more moderate views as House majority leader, said Tom

Hollihan, a politics and communications professor at USC.

“Dreier is much more moderate and comes from a state that’s more

moderate in terms of political beliefs,” Hollihan said. “There may

have been some anxiety that he might be a forceful enough spokesman

... Conservatives don’t want to surrender their very forceful voice.”