It would be an extreme understatement to say that the first year of the House Republicans’ majority was not especially fruitful. Most of their time has been spent dealing with intraparty conflict, including, but not limited to, the overthrow of their first choice for speaker of the House. So it’s as unsurprising as it is fitting that Republicans are now grumpy about not having enough wins to run on in the fall, as NBC News reported on Monday.
As things stand, House Republicans’ list of achievements so far is short; those few successes generally fall into the category of “avoided a self-made catastrophe.” (See: preventing the country from defaulting on its debt.) That’s not because Democrats opposed working alongside their Republican colleagues. In fact, the minority party has searched for something, anything, that could win support in both parties, offering up real, tangible concessions on important issues. But Republicans, rather than capitalize on the opportunities that Democrats have teed up, insist on whiffing entirely.
Republicans, rather than capitalize on the opportunities that Democrats have teed up, insist on whiffing entirely.
A perfect example of this mismatch is the ongoing immigration negotiations taking place in the Senate. If Democrats had their way, Congress would simply pass the national security bill that President Joe Biden pitched, which would provide supplemental funding to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan while also allocate money for enhanced border security. But Republicans in both chambers demanded that the funding be linked to a broader immigration package and, well, here we are.
Senate negotiators are making some progress on that front, even though any potential deal would likely be a trade that doesn’t advance Democratic goals on immigration in the long term. But Biden has been getting hammered in the polls on border security, as cities struggle to provide support for an uptick in migrants since he took office. It’s clear that…
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