https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/05/27/bipartisanship-is-overrated-especially-with-these-republicans/
Opinion: Bipartisanship is overrated, especially with these Republicans
Eugene Robinson
Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) with reporters on Capitol Hill on Thursday.
(Bonnie Jo Mount/The Washington Post)
“There is no excuse for any Republican to vote against this commission since
Democrats have agreed to everything they asked for,” Manchin said Thursday on
Twitter. “[Senate Minority Leader] Mitch McConnell has made this his political
position, thinking it will help his 2022 elections. They do not believe the
truth will set you free, so they continue to live in fear.”
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His continued fealty to the filibuster notwithstanding, Manchin’s statement
seemed intended to draw a line in the sand beyond which he’s not willing to
give McConnell an effective veto over almost all legislation in the name of
process.
If so, it’s about time. Voters snatched control of the Senate away from the
Republicans and handed it to the Democrats. It’s reasonable to assume that
those voters wanted forthright leadership, not hapless surrender.
McConnell’s decision to oppose the Jan. 6 commission is the perfect test case
for the starry-eyed view — held by Manchin, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), and
a few others who are less vocal about it — that the Senate can still be made to
function the way it did in the past.
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Even though McConnell declared earlier this month that “one hundred percent of
our focus is on stopping this new administration,” surely the GOP would agree
that there should be a comprehensive, nonpartisan investigation of the violent
invasion of the Capitol, which left scores of police officers injured and
endangered members of Congress as well as then-vice president Mike Pence.
Surely, as Manchin said Thursday, there must be at least 10 Republicans willing
to vote to advance legislation that has already been shaped and reshaped to
accommodate the GOP’s demands. Right?
Wrong. Given McConnell’s opposition, only a few GOP senators seem prepared to
support the commission bill. The Capitol had not been breached since British
troops sacked and burned it in 1814. But McConnell and the Republicans are
taking the position that there is nothing worthwhile to be learned by a
wide-angle investigation, conducted in a setting less rancorous than
congressional committees, and that it is already time to move on.
McConnell’s reasons are purely political. He does not want to anger former
president Donald Trump, whose support he and House Minority Leader Kevin
McCarthy (R-Calif.) believe they need to regain control of Congress in 2022. He
does not want GOP senators and House members to have to answer inconvenient
questions about their own possible roles in the Jan. 6 insurrection. He does
not want Republican candidates having to answer questions about Trump’s “stolen
election” lies as they campaign for the midterm elections. And he does not want
to give Biden and the Democrats anything they can tout as a “win.”
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The question that Biden, Manchin and others obsessed with bipartisanship must
ask themselves is this: If Republicans will filibuster and block a thorough
investigation into a shocking, violent, unprecedented attack on our democracy,
why would they hesitate to obstruct everything else the Democrats might
propose, no matter how worthy or necessary?
The White House described the Republican counteroffer on the infrastructure
bill as “encouraging.” Given that the proposal nominally spends only about half
of what Biden has proposed — and actually allocates even less new funding
overall and none for initiatives Biden describes as vital, such as moving to a
clean-energy economy — it’s more of an insult.
The GOP appears to see political benefit in coming to an agreement on police
reform. But it is unclear whether those negotiations will actually reach the
finish line.
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And federal legislation to guarantee voting rights — an urgent priority for the
Democratic Party — is a total nonstarter for Republicans. Their strategy for
regaining power in 2022 appears to consist of putting as many obstacles as
possible between the Democratic-leaning electorate and the ballot box.
None of this looks encouraging to me. None of it is good-faith engagement. The
only glimmer of light is Manchin’s growing frustration with McConnell’s
obstructionism.
Bipartisan consensus on these issues would be ideal. A sincere effort to
improve Democratic bills would at least be something. But the alternative
cannot be to let Republicans control the Biden administration’s agenda.
Choosing powerlessness in the name of an abstract principle isn’t just weak.
It’s an unseemly sacrifice of everything else Democrats say matters.
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Robinson’s latest live chat
Henry Olsen: The Republican counteroffer on infrastructure is a sound proposal.
Democrats should take it seriously.
Jennifer Rubin: Whatever Republicans are doing, it isn’t working
Edward B. Foley: Democrats are wasting time pursuing their dream elections
reform bill. Here’s a better path.
James Hohmann: How populism could help Democrats blunt the GOP in midterms
Dana Milbank: McConnell focuses ‘100 percent’ on blocking Biden — and zero
percent on America
