Will Peace Ever Break Out in Congress
Photo: The above photo titled "The Blue and the Gray at Gettysburg, Assembly Tent, Gettysburg Celebration, Pennsylvania," published in 1913, captures two veterans shaking hands 50 years after The Battle of Gettysburg.
I write this blog just hours after the Senate Majority Leader invoked the so called "nuclear option" on confirming Neil Gorsuch as a Supreme Court justice. In taking this unusual step, McConnell has removed the 60 vote threshold for reaching a final vote on approving Supreme Court justices.
This action is but the latest in an ever expanding list of extremely partisan fights that have occurred in both chambers of Congress.
The results of this partisan warfare? Congressional approval ratings are nearing single digits. The terms most associated with Congress are words such as dysfunction, inertia, gridlock, partisan warfare and most tellingly -- broken.
Ultimately, for Congress to truly function at its historical norm, a key question must be answered: will peace ever break out in Congress? To most congressional observers, the current partisan warfare and its resulting legislative morass is not a new phenomena. Congress has actually been on this slippery slope for a number of years.
I personally trace the beginnings of this partisan warfare back to the late 1980s, to the fight between Republican House Leader Newt Gingrich and the then Speaker, Democrat Jim Wright. Although Speaker Wright's eventual resignation led may pundits to label Gingrich the winner, in actuality, there was only one big loser -- Congress. And, of course, with the rise of ideologically driven media and the influence of big money in politics, the act of compromise has become an almost lost art.
Fast forward to Congress today -- there are those who believe that the recent congressional fights on cabinet nominations, Supreme Court nominations and health care indicate a permanent state of war in Congress and that peace, or in this case bipartisanship, is impossible.
I take another view. The early legislative fights that have occurred so far this year were always going to be partisan affairs. Donald Trump's presidency will always be viewed through partisan lenses. But much like a thunderstorm, somewhere on the horizon is blue sky and sunlight. On the not too distant legislative horizon are issues that both parties in Congress should be able to address in a constructive bipartisan fashion.
Such issues include finalizing FY2017 spending, crafting alternatives to the Trump FY2018 budget, infrastructure investment and perhaps even poverty policy. There are issues on the horizon that will unite, not divide, large portions of the Congress.
I know critical actors in Congress are working overtime to walk back the partisan gridlock of today. Senators Coons of Delaware, Isakson of Georgia and Alexander of Tennessee are leaders in this effort.
Moderate House Republican caucuses, like the Tuesday Group and the Main Street Partnership, give one hope for an improved legislative environment as well.
I've met most of the new members of the 115th Congress, and they want to get things done and work as much as possible in a bipartisan manner.
I recognize that we live in not only interesting times, but difficult times. It is especially difficult serving in Congress. But I haven't given up yet. With a little luck, perseverance, wisdom and leadership, it is possible for peace to reign in the halls of Congress.
“It’s got to begin somewhere, else it will become a modern legislative equivalent of what we see in Northern Ireland, what we have seen in the Middle East, what we have seen in Bosnia.”
