Two Approaches to Congressing

Since returning home from a stint as the Seattle PI’s Washington, D.C. correspondent, I have lived on the borderline of two Washington congressional districts. Democrats dominate, but differences in performance run deep.

Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., on my side of Madison Street, is a voice for the Seattle left, star of MSNBC and CNN talk shows. She quickly made herself a player after winning election in 2016, co-chairing and chairing the Congressional Progressive Caucus. Jayapal was a top Bernie Sanders surrogate in 2016 and 2020, and deployed Sanders’ endorsement in 2021 Seattle municipal elections. She is our La Pasionaria, urging resistance at the barricades.

The next door neighbor to Jayapal’s 7th District is the 9th District of Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash. Smith is dean of the Washington delegation, a former (and likely future) chair of the House Armed Services Committee, and he has served a stint on the House Intelligence Committee. Less frequently on cable TV, he has nevertheless displayed killer instincts of a mongoose in taking on Fox News hosts. Smith was one of the first in Congress to endorse Barack Obama’s presidential candidacy. He asked President Biden to hang it up after last year’s Trump debate disaster.

Ex-Husky lineman and longtime Rep. Norm Dicks used the phrase “inside football” to describe his way of operating. It yielded outside benefits. I’ve oft driven into downtown Tacoma on a freeway he had funded, and hiked beaches at Ebey’s Landing and forests of Noisy Creek preserved with money in the Interior appropriations budget.

Inside or outside, which delivers superior results? It depends on circumstances: Let’s take a tighter focus in today’s turbulent times.

Five years ago, Trump wanted to stack the Pentagon with political appointees of dubious ability and invoke the Insurrection Act, deploying troops against protests in wake of the George Floyd murder. Pushback came from the country’s professional military.

As chair of Armed Services — a somewhat collegial committee in a bitterly divided Congress — Smith made common cause with Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley, Defense Secretary Mark Esper, and a bevy of senior retired generals. The non-toady people around Trump prevailed.

Trump is back with — quite literally — a vengeance. He has demonized Milley and Esper, jerked security clearances, and fired Milley’s successor as chairman of the Joint Chiefs. The new Defense Secretary, Pete Hegseth, was a Fox News commentator with a record of heavy drinking and rocky relations with women.

Press releases from members of Congress bear a curious resemblance to Subway sandwiches. Regardless of ingredients, they all contain the same flavor. They make a very big deal out of introducing legislation, often knowing it has no chance of passing.

Genuine achievements, such as keeping soldiers from deploying against American citizens, can go unpublicized. For example, then-Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash. worked with GOP Rep. Jerry Waller on a comprehensive reform on foster care of children in America. Dr. Abe Bergman, the renowned Harborview physician, tipped off the media.

Jayapal lets it all hang out. She has penned New York Times op-ed pieces on her experiences having an abortion and parenting a non-binary offspring. She holds raucous town meetings, summoning resistance to Trump, and was an ebullient presence at the Pride Parade, shouting: “Thank you for having me, Seattle Pride.”

She’s a hero to the state Democratic Party and local Dems, who are deep into identity politics and language correctness. Jayapal and state chair Shasti Conrad headlined a “Peoples’ Town Hall” this week in Spokane, hardly a hotbed of Berniecrats.

But there has been overreach by Jayapal and the Progressive Caucus. They tried to enact a sweeping, pricey social agenda with tiny majorities in Congress. They held up House passage of the infrastructure package — a key achievement — in an unsuccessful bid to force action on their wider agenda.

Other missteps have occurred on Jayapal’s watch, notably a statement urging that Ukraine negotiate with Russian invaders, for which Jayapal blamed staff. Buzzfeed has exposed her office as a less-than-ideal workplace.

Jayapal is still a very talented politician. She can work freely, occupying perhaps the safest seat in Congress. By contrast, Smith has had to bat away challenges from the looney left. He’s caught a break for 2026: Kshama Sawant is running in the 9th District.

A final regret: The Northwest press corps in our nation’s capital has largely vanished, with downsizing of mainstream media. We used to recognize the work horses, spotlight fundraising excesses, and focus on issues consequential to the region. Not much of that gets done nowadays, especially not reporting on what Trump is doing to parts of the state that voted for him.

Still, I appreciate having Mr. Smith in Washington.