Can the Dems Make Washington Work?

As the Members of Congress left Washington last Friday for their July 4th Holiday recess, they recognized that the congressional agenda from now through September 30 is overflowing. In fact, Congress is facing so much work that there is a rumor in Washington that part or all of the nearly sacrosanct August congressional recess will be cancelled.

The discussions over infrastructure which occurred last week among a bi-partisan group of Senators culminating in an apparently successful meeting at the White House suggested that there was an agreed upon strategy for a bi-partisan package. The negotiations and their consequences made clear the number of potential combinations and permutations which may actually lie ahead as they proceed with the arduous job of converting this agreement into legislative language. This is the challenge on the infrastructure bill but also on so much more of the pending spending bills.

There are already numerous potential political as well as legislative pitfalls on the road to any final passage. At the same time, there is always the potential that the Republicans may still opt-out of the deal. To date the Republican leadership has not even signed off on the “agreed upon” proposal. On the Democratic side, it is not clear whether the bi-partisan package “must be”, “should be”, could be” or “will be” followed by a reconciliation package without which there may well be no infrastructure bill. It is also not a sure thing that the House and Senate are prepared to accept the same package.

President Biden recognizes that this is probably the most crucial session of Congress during his first term. Once 2022 begins his ability to successfully make any dramatic legislative moves will be constrained by the Members’ total focus on the forthcoming, off-year elections. Democrats face a significant challenge within the framework of all the pending legislation. They need a consensus approach to everything from climate change to childcare and from a minimum wage increase to Medicare expansion. They also need an acceptable plan to finance all this spending. It will be a battle as much over ideology as it will be over legislation.

The Democratic Party has basically three factions which must find a way to compromise: moderates, conservatives, and progressives. If this fails. nothing will be accomplished. The moderates need to drive the boat and the conservatives have the most serious electoral vulnerability. All of these groups of Democrats must legislate and not posture. They need to legislate but keep the rhetoric calm, the successes visible, and their message uniform. Conservatives ultimately need to impress on the progressives that if they hope to maintain control in the next Congress, it will by persuading the progressives that this can only happen by compromising.

Procedurally, the House is easier for Speaker Nancy Pelosi to manage than is the Senate for Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. The polarity of views in the House, however, is much greater than in the Senate. The progressive group in Congress led by the extremely vocal ‘Squad” could ultimately be the downfall of compromise. Unlike some senators with similar views like Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, these House Members are younger, more ambitious, but rigid. They believe that scoring points is more important than winning a smaller victory today and fight another battle tomorrow. The challenge for President Biden is to keep his Party focused on winning small battles in order to win the war; not to go for broke now and retreat into a dark winter. If the Democrats can get marshal their forces, if the Republicans then were to pull out, the Democrats will carry a win to show the American people.

At the end of the day, Americans know that the country is physically falling apart. America needs to repair its crumbling roads, it needs dams and bridges repaired, and it needs to provide the entire country with broadband internet service. The people want Congress to fix things. If they succeed or if they fail, the question that will be asked in the election in November 2022 is who receives the credit and who is to be blamed.