An era came to an end in the U.S. House on Monday, as Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) died at a hospital in suburban Washington, D.C. The 77 year old Murtha had been suffering from complications in the wake of gallblader surgery.
Murtha had become a reviled political figure in recent years, after the ex-Marine publicly opposed the Iraq War, and led Democratic efforts to stop funding for it in the House.
It was an odd position for Murtha - being out in front on a political issue in a very public way - as his influence was usually found in the halls and back rooms of the Congress.
Murtha was what we like to call an "Old Bull" - someone who has been around for awhile in the Congress, and yields a lot of power through a committee chairmanship or leadership position.
The Pennsylvania Democrat was a true insider, who knew how to cut deals with both parties. Along the way, he became a lightning rod for his pork barrel ways, delivering some controversial projects back to his district.
Murtha had his share of controversy through the years - he was caught up in the ABSCAM investigation, though he refused to accept a $50,000 bribe offered in an FBI sting operation.
In his prime, Murtha was an imposing figure in person, who would sometimes - literally - lean on lawmakers to get them to vote with him on certain issues.
For reporters, he didn't feed us a lot of B.S. about what was going on. The last time I was in a scrum of reporters around Murtha, he talked about how he always voted for increases in the debt limit, no matter which party was in charge, because he thought it was a bunch of crap to play politics on that issue.
In the near term, Murtha's death means a shakeup in the Appropriations Committee, since he was the Chairman of the influential panel that dealt with Defense spending.
Another impact is that Democrats have one less vote in the House when it comes to health care reform. With one seat from Florida now vacant, the House will have 433 members, and two fewer votes for a Democratic health bill.
That could go up by one more at the end of Feburary, when Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-HI) is scheduled to resign his seat in order to run for Governor, reducing the House to 432 members and three vacancies.
Gov. Ed Rendell (D-PA) has ten days to set a date for a special election to replace Murtha. The Governor's options include May 18, which is the scheduled primary for Congressional elections this year.
But some speculated that Rendell might set an earlier date, to insure that the seat does not stay vacant for too long, especially if Democrats are trying to jam a health bill through Congress.
The Old Bull named John Murtha would love that kind of political move.
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