Bailout's failure stings Bachus personally

It could have been Rep. Spencer Bachus’ moment of redemption — coordinating the final House floor debate on the bailout just days after his own party yanked him from negotiations, saying that he didn’t speak for House Republicans.

But in the chaos and confusion that followed the implosion of the bill Monday, this may be just another chapter in what has to have been one of the most difficult weeks in the 16-year career of the soft-spoken congressman from Alabama.

“Frustrating,” Bachus said. “I promise you, that describes it.”

For 10 days, Bachus had been caught in the middle of high-powered negotiations between congressional Democrats, Senate Republicans and the White House, all under the shadow of presidential politics and a looming financial calamity. He was invited into the inner circle of negotiations at first because he’s the top Republican on the Financial Services Committee, but GOP leaders made it clear early on that he had no negotiating authority, even though he was in the room and stood before the cameras during the initial flurry of deal-making.

The confusion over Bachus’ role is emblematic of a chaotic GOP response to the bailout plan, which went down Monday when roughly seven in 10 Republicans voted no.

Bachus even got a standing ovation Monday when he announced that he would reluctantly support the bill, a position that quickly became irrelevant as the roll call vote unfolded and the bailout collapsed.

“Sometimes, events transcend one individual,” said Rep. John L. Mica (R-Fla.).

Transcend is a nice way of putting it.

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), an opponent of the bailout, had another way of describing what happened to Bachus last week: “He was gagged and thrown under the bus.”

Bachus’ roller coaster ride is a lesson in who has power and who doesn’t on Capitol Hill, and how fleeting that perception of influence can be.

When Bachus emerged with congressional Democrats and Senate Republicans after three hours of negotiations last Thursday, he told reporters that he was pleased by the progress that had been made.

But Bachus hadn’t been empowered to negotiate on behalf of House Republicans, who were busily sending e-mails to reporters reiterating that they had agreed to nothing. Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), a lead negotiator and Bachus’ counterpart as chairman of the Financial Services Committee, said that on “Thursday morning, [Bachus] came in and said, ‘I’m here, but I can’t negotiate.’ But he did participate constructively.”

The GOP has accused Frank of taking advantage of Bachus’ presence to give last week’s short-lived deal a bipartisan sheen — all the better to make it appear complete before John McCain arrived. Frank’s not having it.

“That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. How did I do that? He showed up. I didn’t make him come there. I didn’t put any words in his mouth,” Frank said. “These guys screwed themselves up, and now they’re trying to blame me. It’s their own incompetence.”

Shortly after the Thursday meeting broke up, the House GOP leadership put out a statement in Bachus’ name and forwarded it around to make sure no one missed it. “As I made clear in the meeting this morning, I was not authorized by my colleagues to make any agreement on behalf of House Republicans,” it read.

Later that day, House Republicans released a list of principles they wanted included in any final package. The primary concern was a mechanism that would insure bad loans rather than buy them outright.

“[Bachus] probably knew about this insurance thing and didn’t say anything,” said Frank. “That was my beef with him.”

Nevertheless, Bachus showed up later Thursday night for a meeting with congressional negotiators and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson. “I walked in and Spencer was there and I said, ‘Oh, are you representing them?’” recalled Frank. “And he said, ‘No, I just heard there was a meeting, so I figured I should come over.’”

Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid then came in to say that only people who were able to represent their leadership should stay.

“Spencer said, ‘I’m not authorized to do that,’ so he left,” said Frank. “He came back about 20 minutes later and said, ‘Well, Mr. Boehner has told me to come back and negotiate.’”

Bachus stayed for part of the meeting before telling participants that since he wasn’t empowered to agree to anything on behalf of House Republicans, he ought to leave. “He wasn’t even marginally deputized,” Frank said that night.

Heading back to the House side of the Capitol that evening, Bachus appeared beaten down. Swarmed by reporters and asked why it had taken House Republicans a full week to release their set of principles, he stopped walking and paused for a long moment. “It’s been very frustrating,” he finally said.

Asked about the statement put out in his name by the leadership, he said that he had gone to leadership and “expressed my frustration and I ….” He paused for a full 19 seconds before continuing, “I actually suggested that Roy [Blunt] or someone like Roy step in to help me, because it was just more than one person can handle.”

Blunt, the Republican whip, did step in on Friday, deputized by Minority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) to speak on behalf of House Republicans. “It was pretty clear when Republicans came out with their own plan that Spencer wasn’t speaking for them,” said House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.).

Bachus’ role in the negotiations was officially at an end, and it left some members scratching their heads. “I don’t really understand his role,” said Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas). “I haven’t figured that out.”

Over the weekend, Bachus flirted with voting against the package that emerged. Then he decided to vote for it, calling it “the most difficult decision” he’d make in 16 years as a member of the House.

It didn’t make a difference.