President Biden
Joe BidenNoem Praises South Dakota Coronavirus Response, Blocks Lockdowns In CPAC Speech On The Trail: Cuomo and Newsom – A Story From Two Controversial Governors Biden Celebrates Vaccine Approval But Warns ‘Could Reverse Current Improvement’ has brought back White House bipartisan rallies that were inferior to its predecessor, in an effort to find common ground with Republicans, even though they remain far apart on issues related to the next round of coronavirus control.
Biden’s first meeting with lawmakers in the Oval Office was with Republican senators over the coronavirus proposal and has since met with bipartisan members of Congress on infrastructure and, later, supply chain issues. Biden’s reach to Republicans also extended beyond Capitol Hill to governors and local leaders as his administration grapples with the coronavirus and recent winter storms in southern states.
The meetings are another example of a return to more traditional governance under Biden and is expected to attend them regularly.
White House spokesman Michael Gwin said the president is “delighted to welcome, and will continue to welcome, lawmakers from both parties to the White House to work to find common ground for the challenges we face. do during his tenure. “
“Biden’s brand brings people together, so it’s always helpful for him to remind voters that he’s trying to unite,” said Democratic strategist Joel Payne. “For now it helps him stay above the fray.”
While Biden does his best to reach down the aisle, the real test will be whether that involvement produces any results. Discussions with Republicans over COVID-19 aid have not brought either side closer to compromise. Democrats have gone on to pass Biden’s $ 1.9 trillion proposal through budget reconciliation, sparking tensions with the Republicans.
“There are clearly issues where there is a bipartisan consensus, but it requires presidential leadership and political capital to prevent the far left or the far right from holding it back,” said Alex Conant, a Republican strategist and former White House spokesman for George W. Bush.
Biden’s effort to work down the aisle echoes his promise on the campaign trail to be a unified and “president for all Americans.”
“He said he wants Republicans at the table from the start,” said a longtime Biden adviser. “You can’t campaign for that for a year and a half and then you can’t do it.”
The adviser said Biden’s goal has always been to soften the rhetoric and “break the fever.”
“Making them the opposition and not the enemy, that’s part of the deal,” said the adviser. “Part of the goal is to normalize talking to them. That is also a message he sends not only to the Republicans, but also to the Democrats.
“He has no illusion that we will get 67 votes, but that’s how policymaking works,” the adviser continued, adding that Biden is a “creature of the Senate.”
Biden has predicted plans to implement a recovery and infrastructure package and Democrats have also submitted an immigration bill on Capitol Hill, presenting his next tests of working with Republicans. Biden would need Republicans to join Democrats to pass an immigration revision.
In addition to Biden’s contacts, the White House says officials are in constant contact with Republican offices on Capitol Hill and in the United States.
Former President Obama also tried to contact Republicans in the early months of his presidency; he met with the leaders of the bipartisan House and Senate on his first day in Washington in January 2009, before being inaugurated, to discuss economic recovery.
“President Obama wanted to do everything he could to reach the Republicans of Congress,” said Phil Schiliro, who served as Obama’s director of legislative affairs. “If there was no receptivity, he didn’t want the lack of interest to keep us from moving forward.”
Obama’s outreach initially included several small, two-tier social events, including a rally before the Super Bowl and a few White House cocktail parties. But those stopped shortly after they started, as Obama felt they were largely failing to support his legislative agenda.
“He hated them,” said a former senior official.
He continued to hold meetings with bipartisan groups “only when the problems required it [and] not for the sake of the bipartisan community, ”said another former official, pointing to meetings on government funding and the Iran nuclear deal.
Biden has drawn contrasts with previous ones President Trump
Donald Trump Mention Praises South Dakota Coronavirus Response, Blocks Lockdowns In CPAC Speech On The Trail: Cuomo and Newsom – A Story From Two Controversial Governors McCarthy: ‘I’d Bet My House’ GOP Takes Lower Room Back in 2022 MORE, who campaigned for an outsider’s personality and not the ability or willingness to work down the aisle. While there were some moments of duality during the Trump era, such as the passage of the First Step Act, they were fleeting and drowned out by constant friction between the then president and the Democrats.
From the moment Trump won, the Democrats were determined to beat him four years later. The Democratic base had no interest in working with Trump, ”said Conant. Trump never presented himself as president to all Americans. If you didn’t support Trump, he considered you the opposition from day one. “
Trump held some meetings with bipartisan leaders in the White House, but they stopped in late 2019 when House Democrats began impeachment proceedings. Trump’s last meeting with the bipartisan congressional leadership took place in October 2019 regarding Syria. The meeting ended in a storm of Democrats and insults from both parties, and Trump never spoke to the House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
Nancy PelosiMcCarthy: ‘I’m betting on my house’ GOP takes back lower room in 2022 After vote against coronavirus aid package, Golden calls for more duality in Congress Democrats don’t trust GOP 1/6 committee: ‘These people are dangerous’ MORE (D-Calif.) After that meeting.
Still, all five bills for emergency coronavirus funding passed by the Democrat-controlled House and the GOP-controlled Senate last year were twofold, though Trump played a small part in the negotiations and even temporarily the fate of the final. legislation passed in December. Instead, it was the then Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin
Steven Mnuchin On The Money: Schumer Urges Democrats To Stick Together On .9T Bill | Collins rules out GOP support for Biden |’s aid plan Powell Fights Inflation Fears Mnuchin Expects To Launch Investment Fund Seeking Support From Persian Gulf Region: Larry Kudlow’s Report Debuts With Big Ratings On Fox Business Network MORE who was in charge of discussions with Pelosi about the relief of the coronavirus.
Conant described the lack of bipartisan support for Biden’s coronavirus relief package as an “ominous start” and said the White House would likely want and need Republican support to implement a major immigration and infrastructure policy.
“I think Biden is well positioned to do that if he’s willing to break with the far left every now and then,” said Conant. “You cannot expect duality if you are not willing to give something to the other side.”
Democrats currently have only a narrow majority in Congress, with Vice President Harris casting a tie-breaking vote in the 50-50 Senate if necessary. The battle for Biden’s nomination of Neera Tanden to the Office of Management and Budget, which Sen. Joe Manchin
Joseph (Joe) Manchin Progressives Vaporize Over Senate Setbacks Politics, Not Racism or Sexism, Declare Opposition to Cabinet Nominees Biden House Democrats Pass Dramatic .9T COVID-19 Emergency With Raising Minimum Wage MORE (DW.Va.) is against it, also underlines the work the president must do to keep his own party together while trying to work across the aisle.
Biden’s first meeting with GOP senators on Feb. 1 was warm, according to participants, but Biden remained committed to his $ 1.9 trillion proposal, which Republicans consider too expensive.
Biden’s outreach continued when he met with a two-piece group of senators on infrastructure on Feb. 11, and this week with 11 lawmakers, including six Republicans, on addressing supply chain vulnerabilities. Sen. John Cornyn
John Cornyn Politics, Not Racism or Sexism, Explains Opposition to Cabinet Nominees Biden Biden Promises Support for Texas Amid Recovery from Winter Storm Partisan Headwind Threatens Capitol Riots Commission MORE (R-Texas.), Who Biden met on Friday while traveling to storm-stricken Texas, described the meeting as “very positive.”
“The political process has its ups and downs, and I hope this is an opportunity for us to do something really important in a twofold way,” said Cornyn. So far, the $ 1.9 trillion COVID-19 bill has been passed strictly along party lines. I think that is a shame. ”