For Internal Operations, ‘The Pistol’ at the Helm

By Bennett Roth, CQ Staff

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz concedes that compared with oversight of major budget issues, chairing the Legislative Branch Appropriations Subcommittee might not be the sexiest assignment.

Nevertheless, the 42-year-old Democrat from South Florida, now in her third term, is much sought after by fellow lawmakers whose daily lives can be affected by the details in her budget.

“They are looking for leadership on everything from the price of food to the fact that there are no women’s bathrooms close to the [House] chamber,” she said. “The Legislative Branch [subcommittee] is at the heart and soul of the Congress.”

Wasserman Schultz takes her duties seriously, assigning what she calls “homework” to heads of the agencies who appear before her subcommittee and don’t have answers to her pointed questions.

She has railed against what she recently argued was the high price of food in House eateries. She criticized the recently opened Capitol Visitor Center’s cost overruns and construction delays, and she sparred with visitor center officials when they tried to restrict Capitol tours led by members’ staffers.

Some of her Democratic elders have taken notice of her no-nonsense style, with Appropriations Chairman David R. Obey of Wisconsin calling her “the pistol.”

A New York native who served 12 years in the Florida Legislature, Wasserman Schultz was elected to Congress in 2004 from a heavily Democratic district that encompasses portions of Broward and Miami-Dade counties. Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif, has handed her plum assignments, including naming her one of the party’s nine deputy whips, despite her lack of seniority. She often appears on cable TV news programs.

On a personal level, Wasserman Schultz, who has three young children, disclosed in March that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer and had undergone seven surgeries in the previous year.

Despite her critiques of some Capitol services, Wasserman Schultz says she enjoys a job that allows her to be part of preserving the history of the Capitol complex. A large part of the Legislative Branch budget is allocated to maintaining or upgrading the Capitol and adjoining House office buildings.

“I think it is really cool,” she said.