Some Senate Republicans want to force their colleagues to consider Sen. Mark Hatfield's removal as a committee chairman because of his crucial vote against the balanced-budget amendment.
The dispute was a likely discussion topic by Senate GOP leaders at their weekly meeting today, five days after the Oregonian cast the decisive vote against the flagship Republican priority.Hatfield, a moderate who chairs the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, was the lone Republican to oppose the measure, as the GOP was dealt its most bruising defeat this year by a single vote.
Sen. Connie Mack, R-Fla., was drafting a letter to be delivered today to Majority Leader Bob Dole, R-Kan., calling for a session to consider punishing Hatfield. Mack is secretary of the Senate Republican conference, which makes him the fifth-ranking GOP leader.
Under Senate GOP rules, senators can force a session to discuss any topic if five senators sign a letter requesting such a meeting.
Mack spokesman Jeff Cohen would only say that the letter was about "Chairman Hatfield." But one GOP Senate source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the generally worded letter would in effect seek a meeting about punishing Hatfield, including replacing him as chairman.
The effort by the generally young and conservative senators comes after Republicans spent days trying to draw attention to the Democratic effort to defeat the amendment. Of the Senate's 47 Democrats last Thursday, 33 voted to kill the measure, and Republicans said those Democrats would be vulnerable the next time they run for re-election.
The move could also put Dole in an uncomfortable position. Dole is running for president as a pragmatic lawmaker, and must contend with a collection of GOP senators who are increasingly younger, more ideological and followers of conservative Sen. Phil Gramm, R-Texas, also seeking the presidential nomination.
But Gramm suggested caution today when asked about possible sanctions against Hatfield.
"I guess I've always felt more comfortable with trying to inspire people than trying to punish them," Gramm said on Fox TV.