Congress' next challenge: Forming the debt "super committee"

Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., says he wouldn't serve on the debt "super committee" if asked.

/ CBS

Updated at 4:10 p.m ET

Now that Congress has passed a bill to raise the debt limit and address the deficit, leaders have two weeks to choose delegates to a new "super committee" that will recommend further deficit and debt reduction ideas.

At least one lawmaker has taken himself out of the running for the 12-member committee, while other congressmen mull over who'd be a good fit for the "super" group.

Congressional leaders will choose three House Democrats, three Senate Democrats, three House Republicans and three Senate Republicans. They'll have to consider which members could survive the political liability that comes with making hard decisions ahead of the 2012 elections. They'll also have to decide whether to choose members that are typically loyal to party ideology or are more interested in compromise.

Once the group is selected, they have until Thanksgiving to draft a plan to create $1.2 trillion in savings. Seven of the 12 members would have to approve the plan to send it to Congress. The full Congress can then either approve the plan or allow across-the-board cuts to security and entitlement programs to kick in.

CBSNews.com special report: America's debt battle

Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., one of the senators who voted against the debt limit package Tuesday, said this morning he wouldn't serve on the super committee if asked, the Hill reports.

"They're not going to [ask], and if I voted for it and they asked me to, I still wouldn't serve on it," Nelson said on the Nebraska radio show KLIN News Talk.

The senator predicted the committee will get hung up in partisan gridlock and suggested that creating such a committee was the wrong approach to policy making.

"I don't think we can take politics out of every difficult decision," he said. "I don't like to cede away or give away my responsibility, and certainly I don't like to authorize a group of my colleagues to do what I was sent to Washington to do."

Two other senators, Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss of Georgia and Democratic Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, expressed their skepticism about the new super committee on Tuesday to CBS Evening News anchor and managing editor Scott Pelley.

"I think it's going to be very difficult for this select committee to come up with any resolution, any meaningful resolution," Chambliss said. Added Warner, "I'm not sure the committee is going to get the job done." (embed the video of the interview)

Both Chambliss and Warner were part of a group of six bipartisan senators who earlier this year put forward their own ideas for deficit reduction.

So far, congressional leaders have indicated there may be at least some partisan politics at play when it comes to picking the super committee. House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi said Tuesday that the House Democratic representation in the super committee will protect entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare.

"I know that whoever's at that table will be someone who will fight to protect those benefits," she said.

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, meanwhile, reassured conservatives on Tuesday that there'd be no litmus test for appointees to the committee. McConnell clarified that after the conservative magazine the Weekly Standard reported that McConnell would not appoint members who voted against the debt deal on Tuesday.

"There is no vote position requirement to serve on the committee," a McConnell spokesman responded, adding that the Republican leader "will have serious discussions with all those who are interested in serving prior to making any appointments."

For what it's worth, politicians and pundits without any say in the final decision are suggesting candidates for the super committee. Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona said on Fox News Tuesday that Republican Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio would be a good candidate. Additionally, Washington Post columnist Ruth Marcus says that Rep. Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona, who is recovering from being shot in the head, would make a good honorary chair of the group, to remind lawmakers the importance of transcending partisan bickering.

In spite of the skepticism of some members, both McConnell and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid have expressed optimism that the super committee will succeed.

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner also expressed optimism in a Washington Post op-ed published Wednesday morning.

The threat of across-the-board cuts should Congress fail to pass the committee's plan "creates a strong incentive to compromise," Geithner wrote. He added, "Beneath all the bluster, the prospects for compromise on broader and deeper reforms are better than they have been in years."

Regardless of who sits on the committee, they are sure to feel intense pressure from lobbyists, Politico reports. Several lobbyists told Politico they expect to see a full-court press of Congress as it weighs spending cuts and revenue increases.

Update: In an interview with the Wall Street Journal Wednesday, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor said there's been quite a bit of interest in the committee. "The speaker is the one who makes the selection, and I have gotten a lot of calls and emails from members who want to serve and want to participate in solving the problem," he said.

More on the debt debate from MoneyWatch:

History Offers Hope to Bulls Now That Debt Ceiling Mess Is Over
What the Debt Deal Means for Jobs and the Economy

9 Photos

Facts about the debt

[jimmij1]

Its apparent that these clowns are going to need help! START BY CUTTING: 1. CUT all benefits going to ILLEGAL FUC*!N6 MEXICANS (hispanics to be politically correct) It costs the State of California 25 BILLION per YEAR! $600 MILLION for ILLEGAL births in L.A. 2. Cut cell phones for ALL elected officials! (it costs taxpayers BILLIONS! *** do they need cell phones for... let them get their own damn cell phone) 3. Stop funding RACIST organizations like La Raza! (they are the Mexican version of the KKK in brown sheets) 4. Stop ALL foreign aid to terrorist nations like Pakistan & Egypt and basically any Muslim country. 5. Stop sending foreign aid to Mexico! Instead start billing them for all their ILLEGAL births on our soil, including their schooling, their incareration, their expense for deportation and ALL the FREE healthcare they receive at taxpayer expense! 5. And WHY the F*c* are we giving foreign aid to China? They already own most of our debt.... There thats a START you CLOWNS! NOW GET TO WORK!

[CongressionalDysfunction]

Government by committee is not representative government. We are starting another kabuki dance around the problem rather than addressing the problem. Congress created the debt problems and has dodged resolving those problems for years. The dance involves each pointing fingers at the other and deferring resolution until after the next election. Since there is an election every 2 years, nothing is ever accomplished.
Anyone drawing a breath in 2009 knew there were economic problems, so how do our "leaders" respond - by creating a presidential commission in February 2010 to study the issue. Recognizing the severity of the crisis, the commission boldly met once a month promising a report in December 2010. Probably just a calendaring coincidence that the report was due AFTER the mid-term elections. Congress put off considering a budget, because it was waiting on the commission report; members could campaign for reelection and take no real position on the budget, because they were waiting for the commission report.
The report came out in December 2010 and called for action; Congress did nothing but waive partisan fingers and issue statements filled with poll-tested pabulum. The let the situation become a crisis and then want us to thank them for "solving" the crisis. All they did was pass things off to another committee and then go on recess.
This is not a "R" or "D" issue; the problem is a collective congressional indifference to We the People and slave like allegiance to the talking points regurgitated by one of the two political parties. The partisan "either/or" scenarios are ridiculous; each side creates false choices to advocate for their particular extreme position. Leaders get out in front of a problem and solve it; we do not have leaders, we have feral political animals working to save their job. They do not and probably cannot solve problems; the sad reality is that they created the problems in the first place.
Today's Congress is the Founding Fathers' worst nightmare; it is not accountable to anyone, an over-compensated, elite Club, and legislatively incompetent. For more, go to http://*******.com/3lpdyzk to see a sample from a new ebook "Congressional Dysfunction." Use code LM84L for a 25% discount on a purchase. There is no little blue pill to treat Congressional Dysfunction, only the ballot box. www.congressionaldysfunction.us

[tsigili]

I suspect, that only the Tea Party will be willing to serve on that.

[PolarBear6355]

Put Liberals (Welfare Recipients) on it because they're not doing anything.

[PolarBear6355]

Reid really looks sick. Is he okay? I'm really worried about him, really. Pelosi too. Being a Republican, I'm truly concerned about these fine Liberals. What would America do without them?

[firewireone]

More than 270 members of congress have signed a no-tax pledge. I believe since everything is suppose to be on the table with the Super Committee, those who have signed any pledge which could be in conflict with the discussions must be excluded from being on the committee. Why would anyone feel so threaten that they would sign any no pledge?

[slatep]

The 12 people on the "super committee" will not be selected for another five weeks because Congress has fled Washington until the tage of the American people directed toward them has had a chance to dissipate.

Personally, I don't think the rage is going anywhere.

Waiting five weeks will take us into September.

The "super 12" are supposed to come up with these brilliant solutions by October.

By the time Congress gets done wrangling over who should be on this committee; it will probably be Thanksgiving and we will be told it's too late to take this on now.

This is how they get away with it.!!

If; by some miracle; they actually find 12 people for this committee, party loyalty should have nothing to do with who serves on it (fat chance); instead 12 people who genuinely have the best interests of the US and the American people should be appointed.

[insightig]

GET BACK TO WASHINGTON AND FINISH YOUR JOB!! You didn't do anything but act like children while making the US look foolish to the World. Then you try to sale us this bogus Super Committee of 12 to do the job you are paid to do. You deserve no vacation... get off the beaches, off the golf courses and get back to Washington and get the debt problems solved. If not... your out in 2012!!! What a joke all of you are. If you stay and do your job maybe just maybe by Sept. 1st you will have done your job and we can just move on to your next deadline you seem to overlook. Your all like kids... We now have to hold your hands tell your job is completed and take away from you when your bad. JUST GET BACK TO WASHINGTON AND DO THE JOB YOU WERE VOTED INTO OFFICE TO DO. Stop passing it off to bogus committees that get no where.

[kenhamlett]

I doubt we could fill out the committee with my idea but I think it should only be manned by people from debt free states and have no personal debt. If they can't do it at home they can't do much for us.

[mozwv]

Forming another committee is the answer to eveything in Washington. How many committees are there now???? This one is a foregone conclusion with six people saying no to cuts to the big three and six saying no to increased revenue, they will not be doing anything any different then what has been going on for months, just less of them to argue. Whoever gets the most money put in their pockets will break the stalemate and then the middle class will get screwed again. Can't these people be impeached for trying to destroy the country and the working people in it? They were not voted into office to do that.