Obama’s Pelosi Problem

But Obama's campaign was all about putting an end to this kind of petty sniping between the parties. By snubbing Republicans, Pelosi was very publicly undercutting the president. Obama wants that to stop. In recent weeks, the Obama official says, the White House has had "many candid conversations" with Pelosi and other Democratic leaders about the importance of winning over—or at least not openly antagonizing—Republicans.

Yet Pelosi's hard-edged style also benefits Obama. By playing (intentionally or not) the role of the stubborn, old-school ideologue, she allows the president to come off as a reasonable centrist. She pushed to immediately repeal Bush's tax breaks for the wealthy; instead, Obama says he will let them expire on their own next year. Pelosi has repeatedly called for a quick withdrawal of all troops from Iraq. Obama announced last week that, after consulting with the generals, he has decided to slow down the withdrawal and will leave 30,000 to 50,000 noncombat troops in the country indefinitely. Obama has said he wants to stop the tradition of allowing members to insert pork projects into legislation. Pelosi has refused. And despite Obama's insistence that he will "look forward," Pelosi has not shut down efforts in the House to investigate and possibly prosecute former Bush administration officials for abuse of power.

Pelosi has also embraced—even encouraged—her role as Republican enemy No. 1. GOP leaders know better than to go after Obama, whose approval ratings still float around 70 percent. According to Rasmussen, Pelosi is at about 35 percent. "She believes in the president and is willing to take any punches she needs to for him," says a Democratic leadership aide.

But Pelosi isn't taking those shots without getting something in return. In ways that have not always pleased the White House, the Speaker has made it clear to the president that when it comes to House business, he has to go through her. "We are an independent branch of government," she has said repeatedly. Though Pelosi's office denies it, an administration official tells NEWSWEEK that the Speaker asked to be informed whenever the White House contacts a Democratic House member. She also wants to know what the conversation was about. So far the administration is complying. "It's perfectly reasonable," the official says. "She wants to be in the loop."

That task largely falls to Rahm Emanuel, Pelosi's former deputy. Obama is thought to have chosen Emanuel as his chief of staff partly because he was one of the few people in the House who stood up to Pelosi. A Democratic aide says Emanuel got on Pelosi's wrong side during the stimulus debate. In an attempt to win Republican votes, he privately worked with Senate leader Harry Reid to lower the cost of the bill by trimming education funding. When Pelosi found out, she was so angry that Obama himself called to reassure her that Emanuel wasn't making an end run around her. (A Pelosi aide disputes this, saying the Speaker and Obama were scheduled to talk anyway.)

For now, Pelosi may need Obama more than he needs her, but Obama knows he won't always be as popular as he is today, and he will count on her support in the coming budget and health-care fights. At last week's White House fiscal responsibility summit, Rep. Joe Barton, a Texas Republican, stood and told Obama that if he really wanted bipartisanship, he would tell Pelosi to have a more "open process."

Obama was probably thinking the same thing, but came to Pelosi's aid. "On the one hand, the majority has to be inclusive," the president said. "On the other hand, the minority has to be constructive." Pelosi was thrilled when she heard later what Obama had said. The Democratic leadership aide says she had begun to feel like the president was hanging her out to dry on the stimulus plan—and now here he was giving her political cover. In Washington, there is no nicer way of saying "let's be friends."

© 2009