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John Mashburn is a lobbyist in the government affairs team in Womble Carlyle’s D.C. office. A longtime Capitol Hill GOP staffer, Mashburn joined the firm last fall from a position as deputy administrative assistant, policy director, and general counsel to Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.). Before that, he served as general counsel to then Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss).

For more than 20 years, Mashburn worked for Republicans on Capitol Hill in both the majority and the minority, including time in leadership offices on both sides of the Hill.

Mashburn was recently interviewed by Jonathan Groner, senior communications counsel at Womble Carlyle, on divided government, bipartisanship, and other key legislative issues. The following is a transcript of that interview.

JONATHAN GRONER: In the recent off-year elections, the Democrats gained a razor-thin majority in the Senate and a larger majority in the House of Representatives. When the 110th Congress convenes in January, how will those dramatic changes begin to play out?

JOHN MASHBURN: The differences in the rules and in the basic nature of the two chambers will cause things to play out differently in each body. The Senate will be the more important chamber in many respects because the major legislative power left to the Republican minority as a whole in Congress (as it was with the Democrats when they were in the minority in both chambers) is that as a practical matter it takes 60 votes -- not 51 -- to cut off debate and actually be able to pass controversial legislation in the Senate. As a result, any group of 41 Senators can effectively block any item from becoming law if they stay united in their opposition. The Democrat majority in the House, with 31 more seats than Republicans and the power of the Rules Committee, can easily pass legislation in very short order with a simple majority vote. Thus, even if they stand in lockstep with one another, there is little Republicans in the House can do to stop Democrats from passing legislation.

In addition, the recent health problems of Sen. Tim Johnson (D-S.D.) brought home for everyone – including the public at large -- just how quickly the Democrats in the new Senate could lose their majority. Just as Senator Jeffords' switch from being a Republican to an Independent (and voting with Democrats) in June 2001 shifted the majority and control to the Democrats, a change in just one seat from Democrat to Republican at any point in the 110th Congress would bounce control of the Senate -- and the Senate's Committees -- back to Republicans once again. Obviously, any change in control can lead to dramatic changes in the legislative agenda and to the selection of bills and issues that are even considered, much less passed, by the Senate -- and thus the Congress as a whole.

Even assuming that the Democrats maintain their majority in the Senate, the tenuous balance of power in the chamber should lead to moderation by the leadership of both parties -- if they truly want to get legislation passed. Otherwise, it will be difficult if not impossible to garner a supermajority of 60 votes to cut off debate and pass any significant legislative priorities. The Democrats effectively demonstrated that fact time and again in the last Congress when Republicans had a total of 55 seats (versus the far narrower 51 seat majority the Democrats have now). So, not surprisingly, there is already talk of compromises between Republicans and Democrats on lobbying reform, minimum wage, and several other items that will see early action in the Senate and the House.

Click here to read part II of Jonathan's interview.