Lieberman, Cloture, and Health Care, oh my!

Joseph Lieberman, Independent Senator from Connecticut, former running mate of Al Gore, and unabashed John McCain supporter, has recently threatened to not vote for cloture with the Democrats if Republicans fulfill their promise to filibuster a vote on health care. Lieberman’s willingness to break ranks with the Democratic Caucus that let him keep his chairmanship of the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee despite his campaigning for the Republican presidential candidate positions him as the next Senator to be heavily courted for his vote (following Olympia Snowe, the lone Republican to vote for the Senate Finance Committee health care bill in committee). In addition, the move could embolden other conservative Democrats to threaten a no-vote on cloture as well and push for changes to the bill.

On Friday, Democratic Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa reminded reporters of Joseph Lieberman’s debt to the Senate Democratic Caucus as a way to gently push Mr. Lieberman to withdraw his filibuster threat. This is the most blatant threat against Lieberman from the Democratic Party so far.

This incident shows the importance of Senate institutions in shaping legislation. First, the power of the committee chairmanship leads to an incentive for Lieberman to appease the Democratic Caucus that allowed him to keep his chairmanship despite his pro-Republican campaigning. President Obama was one of the strongest voices in lobbying for Lieberman to keep his chairmanship, ostensibly with the goal of promoting party unity, though it now seems as if perhaps Obama might have had the political ramifications of this decision in mind as well.

However, the Democratic distress over Lieberman’s filibuster threat also reminds us of the importance of the individual in the Senate relative to the House and to legislative bodies in other countries.

This incident is also important because it shows the tendency of the Democratic Party to decentralize in the face of conflict, which is in opposition to the Republicans’ tendency to centralize authority under fire.

The importance of Lieberman’s vote also underscores the fact that although President Obama and Congressional Democrats stressed the importance of a bi-partisan legislative process, in practice the Democrats are forced to keep their caucus in line in order to pass legislation (especially interesting since, as I mentioned above, the Democrats have a tendency to decentralize under pressure).