Sen. Robert Byrd walks to his office on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, March 13, 2008. (AP Photo/Lauren Victoria Burke)
by Frank James
Sen. Robert Byrd, the legendary but frail 90-year-old Senate fixture and chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, who’s been the subject of much chatter in that body by colleagues with doubts about his being up to the job, evidently put on a bravura performance at a hearing yesterday.
Okay, maybe bravura is putting too fine a point on it. Still, The Hill reports that the West Virginia Democrat chaired a hearing which was well attended by many who apparently mainly came to see what kind of shape Byrd was in. Rumors that a vulture was spotted flying over the Capitol at the time of the hearing are greatly exaggerrated.
Byrd, who has been a senator longer than anyone else in U.S. history, was in such fine fettle that he told reporters after the hearing that his critics could just “shut up.”
By showing up and chairing the hearing, Byrd put to rest speculation, at least publicly, that he could soon be ousted in favor of a relatively spry fellow Democrat, like the 68-year old Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont. Here’s a snippet of the the Hill’s report by reporter J. Taylor Rushing:
Byrd seemed to grasp that what was on the official agenda was not the only topic of the hearing, showing up on time in a crisp suit and displaying a broad smile while an aide wheeled him into the room.
When the hearing ended, his only words for his critics were, “Shut up.” He seemed to pass the test, convincing three Senate Democratic leaders that he’s able to continue as chairman.
Byrd knows that he is the most closely watched senator on Capitol Hill. He is aware that he’s the subject of whispers, private meetings and even a possible coup. Yet he kept his words short after chairing his first Appropriations hearing since September and twice being hospitalized this year.
While many showed up to see if Byrd was up to the job, he focused his attention at the hearing on President Bush’s $108 billion supplemental spending request.
For now, his appearance seemed to staunch a flow of speculation about his ability to handle the upcoming appropriations season.
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In brief comments after the meeting, Byrd told reporters he is “doing fine,” laughed off a question about his health and said those who question his capacity to lead the committee should “shut up.”
Byrd’s performance was followed by comments from Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chairman Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.).
“Today was a good sign,” said Schumer. “Everybody wants Sen. Byrd to recover and get back to running the Appropriations Committee.”
Durbin even lashed out at reporters, calling the attention surrounding Byrd “macabre.”
“This ought to stop. This is not fair. It really isn’t,” Durbin said. “This poor man is working himself as hard as he can, and all you can do is kind of boil the pot a little.”
Prior to the hearing, Reid told reporters that he spoke recently with Byrd and that Byrd assured him that “he’s feeling strong” and will be “back to his old fighting self.”
“We’ll wait and see how that works out,” Reid said.
Interesting choice of words by Rushing, that Byrd “seemed to grasp” the hearing was as much about him as the topic at hand, Iraq War spending. Sounds like Byrd’s performance left room for doubt.
Another noteworthy aspect was Durbin’s lashing out at reporters for the “macabre” Byrd-watching that’s been taking place.
As The Hill reported earlier, it’s been senators in the Democratic leadership who have oh-so-discreetly been raising questions about the recently hospitalized Byrd’s continued ability to continue serving as chair of one of Congress’s most important committees.
Then, note the non-commital response of Reid, the Senate Majority Leader, to Byrd’s future as the appropriations panels’s chair. “We’ll wait and see,” he said, a comment which obviously will only keep the speculation alive.