May 4 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. Senator Trent Lott left a phone message on a recent morning for new White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten, telling him there was no need for a return call. He got one anyway.
Lott, a Mississippi Republican who complains that he had ``zero'' communication with Bolten's predecessor this year, said the gesture shows that President George W. Bush's White House is starting to get the message that it needs to reach out.
The administration is trying to mend relations with Congress after Bush's own Republicans, who control both the Senate and House of Representatives, rejected his Social Security overhaul, nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court and plan to let a Dubai company manage U.S. ports. Even so, Bush's efforts to improve ties will fail unless backed by policy initiatives, lawmakers and analysts say.
``Until lately, `congressional relations' have been an oxymoron for this White House,'' said Scott Reed, a Republican consultant who managed former Senator Bob Dole's presidential campaign in 1996. ``Bolten's first 72 hours were strong with members of Congress in that he reached out and listened. All that now has to be followed up by action.''
Bush has struggled to deal with such issues as gas prices and immigration, and his ability to get cooperation from Congress is impaired by his approval ratings, which have fallen below 40 percent in most recent polls. Reed said the president needs to find a way to work with members of his party to pass laws they can run on in the November elections. ``This really is the closing window for Bush to have a good, strong stamp on his presidency,'' he said.
Accord on Taxes
Bush's efforts may be showing some results: House and Senate Republican leaders this week tentatively agreed to extend $70 billion in tax cuts after Bush urged them to break a legislative deadlock. Congressional aides said the accord won't be signed until lawmakers agree to details of a second tax measure that will include provisions removed from the first.
Last week, Bush invited a bipartisan group of senators to the White House to advance their goal of enacting an immigration law that toughens border security and creates a guest-worker program. Even the Senate's top Democrat, Harry Reid of Nevada, afterward called it a ``really good, good meeting.''
``It's definitely an encouraging sign,'' Reid spokesman Jim Manley said. ``They had nowhere to go but up. They had a my-way- or-the-highway approach to dealing with Congress that Republicans and Democrats alike found offensive and unworkable.''
Bolten, Portman
Bush's decision to bring in Bolten, 51, a former White House budget director with close ties to Congress, to replace Andrew Card as chief of staff last month may also smooth relations with Congress, lawmakers say. Replacing Bolten as budget chief is Rob Portman, a former Republican congressman from Ohio with links to lawmakers from both parties. And presidential adviser Karl Rove gave up his policy-making role to focus on helping Republican lawmakers get re-elected in November.
Lott said he had at least three phone conversations with Bolten in his first 12 days on the job. ``I had no communication with Andy Card all year this year. Zero. Zip. None,'' said Lott, 64, a former majority leader. ``I even called him, and he didn't return my call. He referred my call down the hall to Candi Wolff,'' he said, referring to the White House's congressional liaison.
Take the Call
He said one of his first pieces of advice for Bolten was that ``a good start in terms of improving relationships would be to take calls when senators call, for God's sake.'' The White House had no immediate comment.
The administration didn't need to spend much time courting Congress when the president's approval ratings were at 50 percent or higher during the first three years of his presidency.
Bush also was helped by then-House Majority Leader Tom DeLay of Texas, whose discipline over Republicans helped deliver votes for White House initiatives on issues ranging from the largest- ever expansion of Medicare to $2 trillion in tax cuts.
DeLay was forced to surrender his leadership post last year after he was indicted on charges of campaign-finance abuse in Texas and has since said he won't seek re-election. Bush's job- approval rating fell to an all-time low of 34 percent in a USA Today/Gallup poll released May 1.
`Success Without Collaboration'
``The first term was success without collaboration,'' said Stephen Wayne, a professor of government at Georgetown University in Washington and author of ``The Legislative Presidency.'' ``Compromise in this White House has been a dirty word.''
Lawmakers have been less willing to go along as concern over the Iraq war has grown, the administration fumbled the response to Hurricane Katrina and Bush's approval ratings have dropped.
``Instead of playing follow the leader, lawmakers played a new game of political survival, and that is stay as close to your constituents as possible,'' Wayne said. ``The president today has virtually no political capital in Congress.''
White House officials realize they must communicate better with Congress, said Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican.
``They've taken the wake-up call,'' Graham said. ``They were not getting the maximum benefit out of their relationships.''
An Equal Relationship
Bolten and other officials have been making more trips to Capitol Hill to consult with lawmakers, Graham said. ``It's gone from being a parent-child relationship to more of an equal relationship,'' he said.
Still, Bush's ties with lawmakers will suffer as long as his approval ratings remain low, said Representative Charlie Bass, a New Hampshire Republican. ``The president needs to improve his own standing with the American people before he's going to have a comfortable relationship with Congress,'' he said.
Bass said he hasn't had contact with Bush's congressional liaison since the end of 2002, when Nick Calio left the post to join Citigroup Inc. as head of lobbying. He says the White House must do more, including bringing in a former lawmaker to work on congressional relations.
``I have no idea who represents the White House in Congress now,'' Bass said. ``It used to be a position that had some status and some responsibility.''
