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 One-hundred days into the Republican takeover of Capitol Hill,
even some hard-bitten politicians are musing hopefully over the
prospect of getting work done in an institution that is now
synonymous with gridlock and a frequent source of nationwide angst
and ire over the state of American politics.
Back-to-back successes on bipartisan initiatives, one overhauling
parts of the Medicare health program, and one giving Congress a say
in any Iran nuclear deal reached by the Obama administration, have
lawmakers optimistic that gridlock may not be a permanent condition,
after all.
Ending years of partisan trench warfare and polarization will not be
easy, with tough tests coming in months ahead on highway funding,
trade, cyber-security, confirming a new attorney general and the
federal budget and debt ceiling. But the political dynamic is
shifting, said some lawmakers.
The economy is growing and joblessness is falling. The federal
budget deficit is shrinking. Taken together, these trends may be
easing pressure on Republican House Speaker John Boehner to heed the
demands of small-government Tea Party activists, such as Senator Ted
Cruz, who have in past years fomented government shutdown
brinkmanship.
Moreover, now that Republicans hold the keys to both the House and
Senate for the first time in eight years, they know that their
ability to capture the White House in 2016 could, in part, be linked
to how well they perform in Congress now.
"We have to show people we can govern and that means finding common
ground where we can find it," Boehner said on Tuesday.
Of course, Congress' standing with voters still may have a way to
go. Claire Ingram, visiting Washington from Weston, Connecticut,
told Reuters on Wednesday: “It’s kind of sad when it’s a big deal
that two parties can agree on something and send it to the
president. It’s sad that it’s not more typical.”
Speaker Boehner spent months collaborating with House Democratic
Leader Nancy Pelosi on a Medicare "doc fix" bill that sailed through
the House last month, though it will increase the federal budget
deficit. The Senate approved the measure on Tuesday, permanently
stabilizing Medicare physician payments.
Another House-passed bill, to fight domestic human trafficking, was
poised to speed through the Senate before Democrats realized
Republicans had put controversial anti-abortion language into it.
Reflecting on the two bills, Senator Dick Durbin, the second-ranking
Democrat in the Senate said: "There was a bipartisan effort from the
start."
Durbin said lawmakers had "gone beyond" divisive debates that
ensnared Congress early this year, such as the Keystone oil pipeline
from Canada, and threatening to shut down the Department of Homeland
Security unless President Barack Obama's new immigration executive
orders were blocked.
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On the Iran deal bill, Durbin noted Congress may have been motivated
by a bipartisan desire to protect the legislative branch's oversight
of international deals.
"But it's more than that," he said, noting that Senate Foreign
Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker, a Republican, and Senator
Ben Cardin, the senior committee Democrat, made "an extraordinary
effort" at bipartisanship.
Throughout the process, the two were in close contact with the
Democratic White House.
To many, a bit of Republican and Democratic comity may not sound
that earth-shaking. Congress's main job is to debate and pass
legislation. But the Senate in recent years has often been tied in
knots by minority-party members staging endless debates known as
filibusters aimed at killing bills.
At the same time, the House of Representatives has largely been
consumed with passing measures with little chance of Senate
approval, meant chiefly as fodder for campaign attack ads.
"People like functioning better than fighting at this point. And
I’ll put myself in that category," said newly elected Republican
Senator Shelley Moore Capito.
Even with a handful of successes, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham
warned: "Don’t read too much" into them.
Amid all the clamor in Congress over legislation ranging from thorny
international affairs to domestic budget plans, senators took time
out for a rare bipartisan lunch on Wednesday.
Asked what would happen there, Republican Senator Jeff Sessions, a
staunch conservative, said: “We’re gonna make nice. I’m sure we
will.”
(Additional reporting by David Lawder, Susan Cornwell and Patricia
Zengerle; Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh and Lisa Shumaker)
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