Supercommittee's Sucess Pivots on Murray, Hensarling

The fate of the supercommittee on budget deficit reduction depends largely on the partnership of Co-chairs Sen. Patty, Murray, D-Wash., and Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas. At first blush, the two seem to have little in common, but they’re actually working quite well together, members of Congress and staffers working on the supercommittee tell Politico.

Hensarling is pleased with the relationship. “I’d say for someone that I’d never laid eyes on until about 15 minutes before our very first hearing, we’re getting along exceedingly well,” he told Politico. “We have a very professional relationship. She is calm, cool, collected, very disciplined, wants to get down to business.”

One supercommittee member says too much has been made of the duo’s differences. “I just don’t buy the idea that Patty and Jeb are some kind of political odd couple. I’ve been here long enough to see that the most fiercely independent and determined partisans have also been the ones who tackled the toughest issues, finding common ground with people they disagreed with on everything else,” he told Politico.