Biden鈥檚 call for unity hits first big test in Congress
| Washington
Sen. Rob Portman, an Ohio Republican, professes himself to have been 鈥渧ery pleased鈥� with what President Joe Biden said in his inauguration address about Republicans and Democrats needing to work together to solve problems.聽
A week later, he鈥檚 waiting for those words to be put into action.
鈥淚 haven鈥檛 seen it, particularly with regard to the COVID-19 bill,鈥� says Senator Portman, a member of a bipartisan group of senators who spearheaded a $900 billion relief package last month that passed 92-6. 鈥淚t鈥檚 good to talk about bipartisanship. It鈥檚 much better to actually do it.鈥澛�
Why We Wrote This
With growing pressure to address the economic fallout of the pandemic, early hopes for bipartisan compromise are already dimming. Democrats say they simply can鈥檛 afford to waste time working toward a deal that鈥檚 unlikely to happen.
On Jan. 14, the incoming Biden administration announced a $1.9 trillion pandemic aid package that would fund an accelerated vaccine rollout, put schools on a path to reopening, provide relief to small businesses and unemployed Americans, offer $25 billion in rental assistance, and send out $1,400 stimulus checks to most Americans.
Even moderate Republicans have balked at the price tag, pressing the administration on why the package includes stimulus payments to families making as much as $300,000, and calling for more targeted aid. With the national debt rapidly growing, they have also raised concerns about numerous other initiatives included in the package, such as spending more than $10 billion on cybersecurity after Russian hackers breached numerous U.S. government agencies last year, and raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour 鈥撀燼 key policy goal of the progressive left.
Democrats, who hold a narrow majority in the House and a single tie-breaking vote in the Senate, are urging the bill鈥檚 immediate passage as an overdue remedy for millions of people affected by COVID-19 and the economic crisis. They say they cannot afford to let urgently needed relief be held hostage by political stall tactics.聽
鈥淚f you see somebody is just stalling and objecting for purposes of stalling and objecting, you say, 鈥榃e are not going to make the urgent needs of the American people 鈥� secondary to some politician looking for a stall strategy,鈥欌�� says Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon. 鈥淚 think President Biden is striking a good balance 鈥� between making it clear what his first choice is, which is to be bipartisan, but he also 鈥� because he鈥檚 been in the Senate and been vice president 鈥� understands when people are really stalling for stalling鈥檚 sake.鈥�
The pandemic legislation is the first major test of how President Biden and his Democratic allies in Congress will put into practice his exhortations to unity, and how willing Republicans will be to work with them. Already, hopes for bipartisanship are waning.
At a time of deepening polarization, centrifugal forces are pulling lawmakers on both sides toward more extreme positions, and threatening to destroy some of the mechanisms that have long served to temper the will of the majority. As pressure grows to address the economic fallout of the pandemic, many Democrats feel they don鈥檛 have time to wait 鈥� or waste 鈥� trying to get Republicans on board for a deal that may never happen. Some are even pushing to get rid of the filibuster, which allows for extended debate in the Senate, in order to pass bills more quickly.聽
The filibuster stays 鈥� for now
The filibuster was first allowed in 1806, but has evolved over time. It was popularized in the 1939 film 鈥淢r. Smith Goes to Washington,鈥� in which an earnest young senator bent on blocking a corrupt appropriations bill speaks for 24 hours. In order to end such delays and move to a vote, 60 senators must agree to do so, in what鈥檚 known as a cloture vote. Defenders see the filibuster and cloture process as preventing a slim majority from ramrodding legislation through the Senate. Opponents argue it has led to undue obstructionism by the minority party.聽聽
鈥淭he filibuster helps to protect the rights of the minority party and defines the Senate as the world鈥檚 greatest deliberative body,鈥� says Sen. Susan Collins, a Maine Republican who in 2017 co-authored聽聽with Democrat Chris Coons of Delaware and signed by 61 senators, urging then-Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer not to abandon the legislative filibuster. 鈥淚t would be tragic if it were removed. And I believe that the Democrats would rue the day, eventually, should they pursue that route.鈥�
For now, the filibuster looks likely to survive, thanks to two Democratic senators who have publicly pledged to keep it 鈥撀燡oe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona.聽
Senator Manchin says it鈥檚 a defining characteristic of the Senate, which was designed to temper the more tempestuous passions of the House.聽
鈥淕et rid of the Senate then, if you don鈥檛 want [the filibuster],鈥� he says. 鈥淛ust make it unicameral and we鈥檒l have one body.鈥澛�
Senator Manchin spearheaded a 75-minute call between Biden officials and a bipartisan group of 16 lawmakers on Sunday, including Senators Portman and Collins.聽
Sen. Mitt Romney, a Utah Republican who was also reportedly part of the bipartisan group and called the Biden bill鈥檚 price tag 鈥減retty shocking,鈥� says Mr. Biden鈥檚 call for unity can be met in tone even if not always in substance.
Unity suggests 鈥減eople that respect one another, that are willing to work with each other, that are open to different points of view,鈥� he says. 鈥淚鈥檓 not surprised that a Democrat pursues Democrat issues, [and] Republicans like myself will fight for Republican issues 鈥� but we can do so with comity and grace and respect.鈥�
Impeachment and fallout from the riot
The tumultuous weeks leading up to President Biden鈥檚 inauguration cast an early shadow over his calls for unity. Although Mr. Biden has stayed largely out of it, the Democratic push to impeach and convict former President Donald Trump, whom they blame for inciting an insurrection on the Capitol on Jan. 6, has dimmed hopes for bipartisan cooperation. In a procedural vote on Tuesday, the vast majority of Senate Republicans indicated they see an impeachment trial of a former president as unconstitutional.聽聽聽
Mr. Biden is also under pressure from the ascendant progressive wing of the Democratic Party. In the early stages of the presidential primaries and caucuses, Mr. Biden lagged well behind more left-leaning candidates. And although Democrats eventually coalesced around him in the effort to defeat Mr. Trump, he faces considerable pressure from the left wing of his party on a range of issues, from racial justice to climate change.
Above all, there is a growing frustration in Congress that efforts at bipartisan compromise have become less and less fruitful. After years of gridlock, some Democrats believe eliminating the filibuster might be the only way to achieve a functional legislative branch again 鈥� one that can tackle big problems and deliver results.聽
There are ways around the filibuster without flat-out nixing it. Budget reconciliation, which requires only a simple majority, would allow the Senate鈥檚 50 Democrats plus Vice President Kamala Harris to push some legislation through without a single Republican vote.聽
Given the urgency of pandemic relief, Democratic senators say they may have no choice but to use reconciliation to pass President Biden鈥檚 $1.9 trillion bill if they can鈥檛 get enough Republican colleagues to support it.聽
When Republicans were in the majority, points out Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, the GOP leadership also used reconciliation to achieve legislative priorities. That鈥檚 how Republicans passed the 2017 tax cuts, for example.聽
But if Mr. Biden鈥檚 opening salvo is achieved through budget reconciliation, after all his talk of unity and bipartisanship, that could early on sour his relationship with even moderate Republicans 鈥撀爀specially coming on top of the Democrats鈥� push for impeachment, as well as Mr. Biden鈥檚 executive orders on everything from canceling the Keystone XL pipeline to including unauthorized immigrants in the census, which is used for apportioning representatives to Congress.
鈥淎ctions speak louder than words. You take a look at the executive orders he signed, there鈥檚 nothing particularly unifying about most of those,鈥� says Sen. Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican, who has also called on Democrats to call off the Senate impeachment trial of former President Trump. 鈥淭hey can鈥檛 win graciously. They were sore losers in 2016, and they were sore losers for four years. Now they鈥檙e sore winners.鈥�
鈥淎 reflection of America鈥�
After Tuesday鈥檚 procedural vote revealed that only five Republicans at most would potentially be willing to convict Mr. Trump in an impeachment trial, Senator Kaine raised the idea of a censure vote instead, which could get more bipartisan support. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has insisted the trial will go forward.
Despite many in and out of Congress despairing about the decline in cooperation between the parties, Senator Kaine says it鈥檚 worth pursuing compromise where possible. He points out that he has seen it work under both Democratic and Republican leadership on committees like Health and Armed Services, both of which he has been a part of since 2013.聽
鈥淚 continue to think we should make the effort as much as we can, because the greater the buy-in on the Hill, traditionally, the greater the buy-in in the populace,鈥� says Senator Kaine, who represents Virginia, where voters don鈥檛 register by party. 鈥淚f it鈥檚 a narrowly divided bill on the Hill, then it tends to be narrowly divided out in the real world, too.鈥�
In separate interviews, both he and GOP Sen. Kevin Cramer of North Dakota make the point that bipartisan cooperation still happens 鈥� it just doesn鈥檛 get as much attention as gridlock.
鈥淥ne of the problems I think we have in America is that the unifying things that we do aren鈥檛 very sexy,鈥� says Senator Cramer. 鈥淪o unfortunately all America gets to see is divisiveness.鈥�
鈥淏ut I also have to say, some of the divisiveness that you see in Congress is a reflection of America,鈥� he adds. 鈥淚n fact, I would say there鈥檚 more unity within the United States Senate than there is out there in Realville.鈥�
Even Senator Portman, who surprised many this week by announcing he would not seek reelection due in part to frustration over partisan gridlock, says he still thinks the kind of bipartisan cooperation he saw in December on pandemic relief is possible in the new Congress.聽
鈥淚n theory, it should work better with government even more closely balanced,鈥� he says, 鈥渁nd a new president who claims he is 鈥� and I think he is 鈥� sincerely interested in trying to cut through the partisan gridlock.鈥�
So why is he leaving if bipartisanship is possible?
鈥泪迟鈥檚听possible, but do you see it happening? I mean, that鈥檚 the whole point,鈥� he says. He walks toward a waiting elevator before turning back and adding, 鈥淚鈥檓 not leaving. I鈥檓 here for two more years. ... I鈥檓 going to try hard to make that happen.鈥�
