The Congress: Unblocking the Road

With the doors of the House chamber shut to keep out the public, the press and the Republicans, the Democratic members of the House met last week in a party caucus that will be long remembered on Capitol Hill. After years of futile attempts, House Democratic liberals finally won a decisive victory over Virginia's crusty old Rules Committee Chairman Howard W. Smith, leader of the road-blocking conservative coalition that has dominated the mighty Rules Committee since 1937 (TIME, Jan. 13). The caucus lasted only 15 minutes, but it cleared away the most formidable congressional obstacle to the New Frontier...