After Barack Obama was sworn in as president in 2009, Mitch McConnell famously declared that the Republicans’ number one legislative agenda was to ensure that Obama would be a one-term president. The idea was to deny the president any legislative victories. Even when a bipartisan majority in Congress favored a bill, the Republicans would do their best to block it so that Obama could not lay claim to any legislative accomplishments when he ran for re-election in 2012.
That kind of obstructionism did not originate with McConnell. Arguably, the person most responsible for setting the G.O.P. on the path of partisan belligerence was Newt Gingrich when he was House Majority Leader during Bill Clinton’s administration. He was the first congressional leader in modern times to insist that members of the other party were not just political opponents; they were the enemy. That doctrine has helped bring us to where we are today.
One of the unanswered questions about the coming weeks and months is whether G.O.P. senators will again lock arms to thwart the new administration’s agenda. Will their paramount priority be to deny Joe Biden any legislative victories, even to the extent of blocking measures favored by most Americans?
It seems clear from their public statements that at least some Republican senators have been chastened by the riot on Capitol Hill. Some may be embarrassed at the degree to which their party’s bellicose antagonism has brought us to this juncture. I am wondering whether their chagrin will lead to their having second thoughts about joining their party’s typically truculent opposition to the new president’s legislative proposals.
Is it possible that Republican senators will strike a less obstructionist posture in the coming months and support the enactment of legislation that enjoys majority support and would benefit the constituencies of both parties, like a robust coronavirus relief package, a $15 minimum wage, and a hefty new infrastructure bill?
The razor-thin Democratic majority in the senate means that moderates on both sides of the aisle will have more power than they’ve had in years. Will centrist Republican senators be able to muster sufficient support among their colleagues to get things done for the American people, or will Republicans in the senate persist in fighting a partisan war?