Serving as the Ranking minority member on the Budget Committee over the past few years, Sessions has effectively used budget point of orders to tactically block big spending bills and has fought terrible budget deals proposed by both Republicans and Democrats. He has served as a one-man think tank and stalwart against amnesty and in defense of our nation’s borders, sovereignty, workers, and taxpayers. Indeed, in an era when the budget process will be the last recourse against Obama’s lawlessness, there is nobody more qualified to serve as Budget chair than Sessions. But this thought process all assumes that other Republicans value the leadership qualities Sessions has exhibited on these critical budgetary issues.
According to Congressional Quarterly, Mike Enzi, the senior senator from Wyoming, is planning to challenge Sessions for the chairmanship. And even though Enzi has not served as ranking minority member on the Budget committee or led publicly on budgetary issues, his seniority would bump Sessions from the position. This is yet another example of why the seniority system is a poor method for determining leaders. All one has to do is look at the Senate Republican conference to to quickly ascertain that conservatives are not only providing the leadership to fight against Obama, but also putting forth the conservative ideas needed to move forward. See Mike Lee and the large policy portfolio of solutions he has developed.
While Enzi is far from a liberal, he does not measure up to Sessions in terms of serving as a leader and a voice on critical issues.
Enzi is generally regarded as one of the nicest senators in the upper chamber. He has consistently voted with conservatives on social issues, guns, education, immigration, bailouts, and national defense. However, he has rarely led or served as an effective voice on any conservative issue. To the extent that he has publicly led on an issue, it unfortunately has been to promote the internet sales tax. As the Ranking Member of the Finance panel overseeing taxation, Enzi has generally been more receptive to tax increases and raising revenue than other Republicans. Conservatives should be asking the following question: at a time when we need a fearless leader to fight Obama on budget and immigration, why would Republicans swap out a statesman for a stealth senator?
