海角大神

Look no further than their clothes to glimpse the personality contrasts of Washington鈥檚 top Republican 鈥減ower couple鈥�: House Speaker John Boehner and Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell.

At their joint House-Senate GOP retreat in Hershey, Pa., Thursday, Speaker Boehner 鈥� son of a bartender and a backslapper who loves golf 鈥� was Mr. Casual, dressed in jeans and a navy zip-neck sweater. Leader McConnell 鈥� not a golfer, not gregarious, not a big talker 鈥� was more formal, sporting an argyle sweater, blue blazer, and tan slacks.

The two couldn鈥檛 be more different in tastes and manner. While they are friendly and respect each other, they鈥檙e hardly best buds. That doesn鈥檛 seem to matter, however, because 鈥渢hey鈥檝e got a great working relationship,鈥� says Rep. Jeff Denham (R) of California.

It鈥檚 an opinion shared in- and outside Congress. With this couple, it's all business 鈥� and their business now is daunting. Leading the first GOP-controlled Congress since 2006, they face unique challenges in their respective chambers.

No promise that Republicans can govern will ever be fulfilled, and gridlock will not unlock, if these two can鈥檛 get their two sides of the Capitol to work with each other, let alone work with the White House.

鈥淎s far as I鈥檓 concerned, the most important relationship in Washington in the next two years will be the one between Speaker Boehner and Senator McConnell,鈥� says Jim Manley, former spokesman for the now-demoted Democratic majority leader Harry Reid. 鈥淣othing will get done unless they can get their caucuses on the same page.鈥�

The difficulty of that was evident at the Republicans鈥� two-day retreat in America鈥檚 candy capital this week. House Republicans had just passed a bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security. Attached amendments block funding for President Obama鈥檚 executive action on immigration and effectively end his program to defer deportation of certain children of unauthorized immigrants, known as 鈥淒REAMers.鈥�

The bill with its amendments has no chance of passing even the GOP-controlled Senate, because of the threat of a Democrat filibuster, which would take 60 votes to overcome (Republicans have a majority of 54 seats).

At the retreat 鈥� the first joint GOP off-site in a decade 鈥� neither of the leaders publicly offered specifics on how to resolve the issue. McConnell simply told reporters that the Senate will try to pass the House measure, and 鈥渋f we鈥檙e unable to do that, we鈥檒l see what happens.鈥� Boehner said each chamber will 鈥渨ork its will,鈥� then 鈥渢ry to resolve the difference.鈥�

McConnell, from Kentucky, and Boehner, from Ohio, meet weekly, alternating the sessions in their offices, and they talk more often than that on the phone. Their staffs, too, stay in close touch, with McConnell鈥檚 deputy chief of staff, Don Stewart, joking to the National Journal that he has worn a groove in the 30-foot, back-hall walkway that connects the two offices.

The men also share important commonalities: a similar geographic orientation, close ties to the business community, a strong conservatism that has been maligned by the ultras as not conservative enough, a desire to return Congress to 鈥渞egular order鈥� (more democratic, but also messier), and a philosophy of 鈥渘o surprises.鈥�

Indeed, Boehner ran the Homeland Security plan by McConnell before announcing it, though, as Mr. Stewart told the National Journal, the two 鈥渄on鈥檛 tell each other how to run鈥� their chambers.

鈥淔or the leaders, there鈥檚 got to be a no-surprises rule. It鈥檚 better to have complete transparency as to what the challenges are,鈥� says John Feehery, former spokesman to Boehner鈥檚 GOP predecessor as speaker, Dennis Hastert.

Mr. Feehery recalls Mr. Hastert being blindsided by a Senate deal in 2003 with Republican Olympia Snowe of Maine for a lower tax cut than President Bush had proposed. That was early in the tenure of then-GOP majority leader Bill Frist. The communication lapse was born of inexperience, but it was also typical dealmaking in the Senate, where just one member can stop up the works.

The nature of the Senate 鈥� its slower-moving deliberativeness and its 60-vote threshold for overcoming a filibuster 鈥� are limitations on the majority leader that House members often forget about. Things can move speedily in the House, where the party in power sets the rules and the speaker can pass legislation with a simple majority.

Mr. Manley, the former Reid spokesman, recalls the early Obama years, when Democrats held both chambers. The speaker, Nancy Pelosi, would update then-majority leader Reid about the three, four, or five appropriations bills she expected to move through the House that week.

鈥淭hen she鈥檇 go, 鈥榃hat about you, Harry?鈥� and Senator Reid would kind of put his head down on the table and say, 鈥楬opefully we鈥檒l get the motion-to-proceed on the defense authorization bill.鈥澛�

Boehner has his own challenges, principally a large and inflexible right wing that has caused him trouble since the tea party wave of 2010. Also, House members will expect much more from the GOP-controlled Senate than they got when Democrats were in power, but 鈥渢hey don鈥檛 understand the power of 60 votes,鈥� Manley says.

When leaders can get their chambers moving together, however, results can happen. Feehery remembers the effort by Hastert and then-GOP majority leader Trent Lott to coordinate on key areas of economic and national security. It was just after the House impeached President Clinton, when the Republican brand was 鈥渞eally, really terrible,鈥� as Feehery put it.

鈥淲e passed a lot of good stuff,鈥� including increased defense spending and some modest budget cuts, he says. The effort gave Republicans an opportunity to work with Mr. Clinton, whose approval rating improved. It also helped pave the way for Mr. Bush.

鈥淏y getting stuff done, we actually helped the Republican brand improve. We didn鈥檛 do any crazy stuff, either,鈥� says Feehery.

It鈥檚 a model not lost on either Boehner or McConnell.