Across the Aisle
By Andrew Yuan ’24
Despite President-Elect Joe Biden’s promises, a bipartisan effort to reach across the aisle will be almost impossible after the long-lasting divisions caused by a Trump presidency. A probable Republican-controlled Senate with Mitch McConnell as the majority leader, along with Kevin McCarthy’s increasingly ambitious agenda to take back the House in 2022, will only exacerbate the hostility between the two parties.
The American people, regardless of their political affiliation, have the necessary responsibilities to cooperate with a foreseeably difficult Biden presidency in the next four years, yet it seems impossible that such a smooth transition will take place soon. With progressives pressuring Biden to nominate Sen. Bernie Sanders and Sen. Elizabeth Warren to the cabinet, Biden will have a hard time dealing with the rising antagonism from thousands of fanatical MAGA voters, who just organized a massive “Million March” protest in D.C. this week.
Many Republican officials are willing to accept a Biden victory and seek unity, including President George W. Bush, who just congratulated Biden a few days ago, as well as Sec. Colin Powell, Cindy McCain, former Gov. John Kasich and Carly Fiorina. However, aside from a number of former executive supporters, Biden hasn’t yet received the expected approval from Senate or the House Republicans, nor does it seem likely for Republicans to contend for cabinet positions. Amongst other Republicans who are seeking a cabinet position, only Meg Whitman, CEO of Quibi, is considered a top contender for the Secretary of Commerce.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Sen. Lindsey Graham, who had both cooperated well with President-Elect Biden in the past, are showing no intention of working with a Democratic presidency. Both senators backed President Trump’s legal challenges to election results, citing that it is constitutionally allowed for Trump to contest. Most other senators, following the Senate leadership, decided to either remain silent or support President Trump in his unrealistic legal appeals. So far, only four Republican senators have congratulated President-Elect Biden on his election victory but many advocated that Biden should get intelligence briefings as soon as possible.
There is still a slim chance for President-Elect Biden to reach across the aisle by persuading Republican moderates to support issues embraced by the Democratic Party. The key player in this cohesion process for our country would be the Senate, the only branch of the Trifecta that might go to the Republicans. Again, just as we have seen in the past few years, the national landscape of American politics will be determined only by a few Republican senators from sparsely populated states.
A key moderate vital to the unity of the Congress would be the recently re-elected Sen. Susan Collins of Maine. As one of the senators who remained neutral to the rising Trumpism in the right wing, Collins won her re-election campaign this month by a stunning 9-percent margin. Maine Republicans praised her efforts to stay neutral and distance herself from the rest of the Republican party during the rise of Trumpism in the right wing.
Collins broke with her party’s interest on key votes this year, voting to include witnesses in Trump’s impeachment trial and voting against Amy Coney Barrett’s appointment to the Supreme Court. Being the only Republican Senator in New England, her moderate views, in contrast with her challenger Sara Gideon’s liberal agenda, had appealed to Maine voters for the last 23 years since she was first elected to the Senate. Notably, Collins only voted with her party only 59% since joining the Senate in 1997, making her one of the most possible GOP senators to vote for Democratic bills and slightly progressive cabinet appointments. Although she will not be up for re-election until 2026, her effective anti-Trumpist campaign strategies might motivate her to work with the Democrats.
Senator Lisa Murkowski, a vulnerable Republican Alaskan moderate whose seat is up for grabs in 2022, has gained national attention in the past few years by voting against the “skinny repeal” and “Trumpcare” American Health Care Act. Trump vowed to campaign against her in June but with the President’s defeat, Sen. Murkowski can now vote with Democrats on key issues to appeal to Alaskan moderates. Murkowski’s vote to confirm Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court, however, will raise concerns for democrats who are hopeful about working with her.
As one of the harshest Republican critics of the Trump presidency, Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah called President-Elect Biden to congratulate him on his win. He has been long seen as the most Democrat-friendly senator on key votes in the past few years, including his notorious vote as the only Republican senator to convict President Trump in the impeachment trial. Yet with his affirmative vote during Barrett’s hearing, his role in the next 4 years still remains unclear.
Senator Roy Blunt of Missouri, one of the lesser known names on this list of Republicans, will also be a key senator to watch. He won his re-election bid in 2016 only by a margin of 3.2%, making him a vulnerable Republican up for re-election in 2022. As the fourth powerful Republican in the Senate, he actively spoke against President Trump in the past few weeks.
For instance, when Trump suggested that Biden had committed fraud on election night, Blunt argued that “you can’t stop the count in one state and decide you want the count to continue in another state. That might be how you’d like to see the system work but that’s not how the system works.” He also agreed with Sen. Marco Rubio on providing intelligence briefings to President-Elect Biden, despite McConnell’s demand to wait for vote recounts. If he is willing to reach across the aisle to join Congressional Democrats on some key issues, then a unity would seem likely given his powerful influence over other Republicans.
Congress’s role will become vital in the next 4 years, and America is already anticipating another more divisive election in 2024. Biden, who will likely not seek re-election, will be also tested on his ability to heal the country, with Kamala Harris representing a more diverse voice in the administration as the first female, black and Indian-American Vice President. Despite the slim odds of unity, we must not forget that the future of America lies in our hands and our hands alone.
While it’s easy to go off and point to Congresspeople as the only ones who can bring about change, so much of our activism happens on a grassroots level — we are the ones who can pressure our lawmakers, and more importantly, we are the ones who can tone down the national division in our own communities, even if Washington will not.