WASHINGTON » U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz faces a test of fire in his first days in Washington, where he was sworn into office Thursday, having arrived on Air Force One less than 24 hours after being appointed to a seat left vacant by the death of Daniel K. Inouye, Hawaii’s most powerful politician.
Schatz, 40, will be pulling levers as America’s newest senator in a Congress that is meeting in a rare holiday session to avert the so-called "fiscal cliff," a baggage of legislation that would raise taxes for nearly everyone in January and spread federal cuts across the board, most heavily at the Pentagon.
"We’re hitting the ground running," Schatz said, a bit tired but elatedafter being sworn in by Vice President Joe Biden, president of the Senate. "This was extraordinary,"he said in a brief interview.
The Hawaii Democrat took his oath on a traditional Hebrew bible with retiring U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid at his side. In keeping with the ceremony, Schatz said nothing publicly, but graciously shook hands afterward and left the Senate floor. Schatz’s wife, Linda Kwok Schatz, their two children and his parents were in Washington to witness the short ceremony.
His oath signaled the start of a new era. With Inouye’s death and Akaka’s retirement, Hawaii loses nearly a century of experience and clout on Capitol Hill. Schatz will become Hawaii’s senior senator next week when U.S. Sen.-elect Mazie Hirono replaces Akaka.
The former lieutenant governor joins a deadlocked Congress struggling with fiscal issues that will affect every paycheck-earning American starting Jan. 2, unless Congress can fix it. His first days in office promise to be intense. President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans remain at an impasse over how to avoid falling off the fiscal cliff, which could send the U.S. economy right back into recession.
"This system is dysfunctional and beyond," said Norm Ornstein, a congressional scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, a Washington think tank.
Illustrating that point, Reid opened the final session of the 112th Congress by noting, "It takes 60 votes to do anything in this chamber."
Schatz’s abrupt job change came in response to Reid’s request that Gov. Neil Abercrombie choose Inouye’s successor quickly so that Hawaii would be fully represented for any possible fiscal cliff vote in the days ahead.
Schatz was appointed Wednesday by Abercrombie, a veteran of Capitol Hill, who went against Inouye’s preferred successor.
Before he died Dec. 17 at age 88 of respiratory complications, Inouye had asked Abercrombie in a letter to grant him his "last wish" by naming U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa, 61, who represents urban Honolulu’s 1st Congressional District.
But the governor said Schatz’s ability to build seniority in the Senate was a factor in his decision, as was the fact that a Hanabusa appointment would have triggered a winner-take-all special election that could have left the 1st District in Republican control. He also said that he took into consideration Hanabusa’s post on the House Armed Services Committee, which is important because of the state’s large military presence.
In remarks welcoming Schatz to the Senate, Akaka touched upon the controversy.
"While there were other talented leaders in Hawaii who stepped forward and who would also have been excellent appointees, I know that my colleagues will join me in supporting Sen. Brian Schatz for the good of Hawaii," Akaka said.
He said the state’s congressional delegation has been unified throughout his 36 years in Washington.
"We have always put Hawaii first, before our individual ambition," Akaka said. "We must continue that."
Schatz, just the sixth senator from Hawaii since statehood in 1959, is now the youngest member of the U.S. Senate. However, in January, when the new Congress is sworn in, Schatz will become the second youngest after 39-year-old Chris Murphy of Connecticut.
And Schatz will become Hawaii’s senior senator when Hirono joins the Senate next month. He will serve the next two years of Inouye’s remaining term, which runs through 2016. An election, which Schatz plans to compete in, will be held in 2014 for the final two years of the term.
In an interview with reporters at Andrews Air Force Base after arriving from Hawaii with Obama, Schatz said he talked to the president while aboard Air Force One.
"We had a brief chat," he said. "We’re anxious to get to work and see what we can do to try to avert the fiscal cliff, and I’ll be looking forward to supporting the administration’s priorities."
Schatz, who resigned his post as lieutenant governor before taking his Senate oath, also commented on his red-eye trip aboard Air Force One.
"It was a lovely flight. I slept almost the whole way," he said. He was wearing a new overcoat that he said he just purchased Wednesday in anticipation of the Washington, D.C., weather.
Schatz said he was informed of his appointment by Abercrombie at about 1 p.m. Wednesday, an hour before the governor announced it publicly.
He said he didn’t know that he would get to fly on Air Force One until later in the day and that the rest of his family flew on a commercial airline to attend Thursday’s swearing-in.
Schatz, who served as chairman of Obama’s 2008 campaign in Hawaii, said, "I’ve been a supporter of his from the very beginning. For Hawaii it’s not just a matter of him being from Hawaii, but we feel that he represents our values on the national stage. That’s what I’m looking forward to supporting."
When asked about the selection process in which Abercrombie chose him over Inouye’s preferred successor, Hanabusa, Schatz echoed remarks he made at Wednesday’s news conference announcing his appointment.
"No one can fill Sen. Inouye’s shoes, but we’ll all try to walk in his footsteps together," he said. "His humility, his service to his state and his country, his kind demeanor — we’ll all try to emulate that. But certainly no one can fill his shoes."
Of the fiscal cliff crisis, Schatz said early Thursday: "It’s at this stage difficult to understand why we would inflict this on ourselves. And so I’m hoping that cooler heads will prevail and we will be able to avert this disaster.
"Everyone seems to agree that we want to avoid this. There are some practical balanced approaches that have been set forth. And now it’s time, and we’re really running out of time, to negotiate a settlement, which I believe no one will be thrilled with. But the only thing worse than a solution to the fiscal cliff would be actually going over it."
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White House media pool reporter Michael Memoli of the Tribune Washington Bureau, and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
