Amid GOP infighting over Trump, Republicans agree to oppose Biden’s agenda

As tensions continue to simmer within the Republican Party over the role of former President Donald Trump going forward, GOP lawmakers appear broadly aligned with a unified agenda to oppose the policies of President Joe Biden.

Biden has repeatedly stressed his desire to work with Congress in a bipartisan fashion while he was in the White House. While this sentiment has been welcomed by some Republicans, the reality of Biden’s ambition seems to be playing out in a way most Americans are all too familiar with: a partisan deadlock.

Republicans may disagree over whether they support or oppose Trump, as evidenced by the bipartisan nature of the former president’s second impeachment trial and statements by some GOP senators condemning the former president after refusing to vote for condemn. But this internal party issue does not appear to undermine conservative unity in the face of Biden’s progressive agenda.

Rep. Liz Cheney, a Republican from Wyoming who is the No. 3 Republican in the House, received a major backlash from GOP colleagues for voting to impeach Trump following the Jan. 6 insurgency against the US Capitol. But the condemnation of the former president does not translate into support for his Democratic predecessor.

“Due to the reckless decisions made by the Biden administration, the counties of Wyoming are going to suffer,” Cheney tweeted Friday, raising concerns about Biden’s decision to cancel the Keystone XL pipeline. On the same day, she targeted Biden’s $ 1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief proposal, calling the price “unsustainable” and warning that it “would make matters worse” for the country.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican from Kentucky, who publicly berated Trump despite his acquittal vote, spoke out strongly against the new president’s early political efforts.

“The Democrats ‘so-called rescue bill includes Senator Sanders’ minimum wage proposal that would kill 1.4 million American jobs. This after the president killed several thousand jobs with Keystone XL,” he said. McConnell tweeted last week. “Killing jobs and destroying opportunities – is that their pandemic rescue idea?”

Meanwhile, Trump loyalists like Senators Josh Hawley of Missouri and Ted Cruz of Texas seem poised to oppose almost anything Democrats say. Hawley has refused to vote for any of Biden’s cabinet candidates so far. Cruz voted against all of the candidates who came forward for a vote except Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.

The Democrats ‘so-called rescue bill includes Senator Sanders’ minimum wage proposal that would kill 1.4 million American jobs. This after the president has killed several thousand jobs with Keystone XL.

Killing jobs and destroying opportunities – is that their pandemic rescue idea?

– Chief McConnell (@LeaderMcConnell) February 8, 2021

Grant Reheer, professor of political science at Syracuse University, said Newsweek that he does not see “many prospects” for Congress to govern in a bipartisan manner “in the short term or in the short term”. Reheer pointed out that the current level of political polarization was forming.

“Ironically, what it will probably take to create more bipartisanship is for a party to establish clear and stable control of an institution,” Reheer said. “It happened for much of the 20th century with Democrats in Congress, and for a shorter period, with Republicans in the White House,” he explained. “I don’t see anything equivalent to this situation in the short term.”

Moderate GOP lawmakers, such as Senators Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and Mitt Romney of Utah have made overtures for bipartisanship. Those Republicans, joined by seven other GOP senators, have proposed a considerably smaller $ 600 billion COVID-19 stimulus package. Although Biden met with Republicans to discuss their proposal, it became clear that the president was unwilling to compromise when the starting offer was less than a third of the size of his package – while leaving aside from key democratic priorities.

“Democrats may be able to get some support on some issues, like COVID relief. But even then, general partisan disagreements will reappear, as we’ve seen before,” said Hans Noel, associate professor at the Georgetown University which studies political coalitions Newsweek. Noel pointed out that there are two key issues at play.

One is the reluctance of Republicans to cooperate. The other is the extent to which Biden is more progressive than even many well-liked Democrats in primaries and general elections. Biden has always been in the midst of his party, and as his party has evolved. So has the Congressional leadership in Congress, which is more progressive than it was a few decades ago, “he explained, predicting that this will make it even more difficult a bipartisan agreement in the future.

Noel said the idea that Republicans are in a “civil war” is “generally overestimated,” noting that they “are quite united.”

Democrats seem to recognize that a bipartisan deal will be difficult to achieve. Regarding Biden’s COVID-19 package, they turned to the budget reconciliation process that would potentially allow them to pass the legislation without any GOP support. Due to the Senate’s legislative obstruction rule, most bills need the support of at least 60 Senators to pass. With an evenly divided Senate – 50 to 50 – winning the support of 10 Republicans amid today’s high levels of polarization seems like a nearly impossible task.

“For Democrats, the fact that they are already taking a one-party approach to the third stimulus suggests that bipartisanship is a secondary goal. Additionally, Democrats will want to protect their narrow margins of control in Congress as well as the White House. , while Republicans will be keen to take over all three institutions, and they both see those goals as within their grasp, “Reeher said.” That doesn’t bode well for bipartisanship either. “

If the Republicans can stop Biden and the Democrats from fulfilling their agenda, they think it can potentially help them regain control of Congress in 2022. Nor do they have any interest in seeing the Biden administration succeed, either. like the Democrats didn’t. in Trump succeeding. A president who fails is much easier to criticize and run in four years.

Reeher said Republicans and Democrats working together “will take some leaders who are willing to lose.” He added: “I haven’t seen much of this lately.”