Compromise necessary between Trump, Dems in next Congress, analysts say
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Rep. Karen Handel (R-Ga.) became the latest incumbent House Republican to lose their bid for re-election after she conceded Georgia’s 6th Congressional District race to Democratic challenger Lucy McBath. The concession is the latest setback for President Trump as he finds ways to work with a Democratic majority in the House in what’s now a divided Congress.
“I really believe there is going to be much less gridlock,” Trump insisted during his post-midterm news conference Wednesday.
Trump believes working with Congressional Democrats won’t be as hard as everyone thinks it will be. That, after the party gained nearly 30 seats in the House Tuesday night, and now control of the lower chamber for the next two years. More than a dozen House races are still considered too close to call.
Some political experts aren’t buying Trump’s message.
“I don’t think there is going to be any movement on policy,” said Lara Brown, director of political management graduate program at George Washington University.
Brown believes the results of the midterms could put Trump’s agenda on hold. Where he stands with the Democrats, she says, is apparent by yesterday’s firing of Attorney General Jeff Sessions and any potential investigations the Democrats may bring forth, expanding upon the existing investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller into claims of collusion by the Russian government in the 2016 presidential election.
“The President is already setting up a way that he can call himself the victim of their unjust persecutions,” Brown said Thursday.
However, Trump does share some common ground with Democrats, notably with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, who is the current frontrunner to become House Speaker. Both sides are seeking a massive infrastructure plan, and both sides want to tackle the rising costs of prescription drugs. But the power struggle could come over how to pay for these things, especially on infrastructure. Trump and the Republicans want more private investment. Democrats have traditionally wanted public money spent.
“I really believe that we have a chance to get along very well with the Democrats,” Trump said Wednesday. “And if that’s the case, we can do a tremendous amount of legislation and get it approved.”
That’s if both sides work together. Democrats have long opposed everything from Trump’s legislative agenda to most recently, cabinet-level and Supreme Court appointments.
“The House of Representatives, which is the only branch controlled by the Democrats, will in fact be looked on to check this executive,” Brown said.