Because Republicans are "no longer the opposition party," they'll "need to get things done" in the first year of the 114th Congress, says Andy Friedman of The Washington Update.
Speaking Tuesday morning at a breakout session at the Financial Services Institute's OneVoice conference in San Antonio, Texas, Friedman spoke of the main forces driving Congress now. They include the fact that to Republican conservatives, "if you compromise on legislation, you're viewed as a moderate, which will hurt you in the primaries." That's what led to Eric Cantor losing his seat in Congress, and with it his role as the House majority leader.
"Most House incumbents worry about winning the primary more than the general election," a changed priority made possible by the 2010 redistricting of Congressional seats, Friedman said.
Friedman said that despite the GOP gaining control of both houses of Congress, "split government will continue" this year. Only when there's a "forcing event" will Congress pass legislation that requires compromise between the two parties and that President Barack Obama will sign. Among the examples of those forcing events in the past were dealing with the fiscal cliff and raising the debt ceiling.
Friedman listed six dates that will meet his definition of "forcing events" in 2015:
Feb. 27: Homeland Security Department funding expires under the "CRomnibus" law that is funding the government.
March 15: The debt ceiling, which Friedman called the "most important" forcing event, and that neither party will want the U.S. to default.
March 28: The Medicare "doc fix." Medicare payments to doctors will fall 21% on April 1 if Congress doesn't act.
May 31: Spending authority for the Highway Trust Fund expires.
