Rep.-elect John James (R-MI) presumed Congress was dysfunctional. The Michigan Republican is nonetheless bewildered by what he’s learning about the institution, and his new colleagues, as he prepares to be sworn into office.
Among James’s concerns are House Republicans.
Instead of accepting the will of a majority of the GOP conference and preparing to support House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) for speaker in a floor vote scheduled for Jan. 3, an obstinate minority are vowing to block the California Republican’s ascension. Their opposition threatens to wreak havoc, delaying the incoming GOP majority from organizing and tackling issues like inflation, public safety, and oversight of President Joe Biden and his administration.
“It’s extremely unfortunate that a lot of this stuff is being aired in public. I think the most effective way is to handle family business within the family and then come out on a unified front. But some folks have chosen their methods,” James, a staunch McCarthy supporter, told the Washington Examiner in an interview this month in Washington while attending orientation meetings.
“This is the biggest frustration the people in my district see,” the 41-year-old businessman and Army combat veteran added. “They see the chaos and discontent going on in Washington, and they wonder: Why can’t you get your stuff together?” That sentiment relates to James’s low opinion of certain House GOP negotiating tactics — for instance, plans to leverage approving an increase in the federal debt ceiling to squeeze spending cuts out of Biden and Senate Democrats.
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James is a budget hawk. He is troubled by the exorbitant size of the debt and the deficit Washington has been running up on the taxpayers’ dime for years. But he said that as a business owner, he believes it is misguided to hold hostage the payment of bills already owed in exchange for a commitment to reduce future spending. James also described the strategy as quasi-immoral.
“Holding a gun to the American people’s head is not fair,” he said. “It’s not right.” However, James did not spare Biden and his party from criticism for their part in the running up of the taxpayers’ tab. “We’re going to have to have some tough conversations with this administration because we’re beyond spending taxpayers’ dollars. We’re spending our grandchildren’s and our grandchildren’s grandchildren’s dollars,” he said. “This is not sustainable.”
James ran for Senate in 2018 and 2020. He lost both contests but two years ago outperformed former President Donald Trump and came less than 2 percentage points away from ousting Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI). James finally made it to Capitol Hill this year, scoring a narrow 48.8% to 48.3% victory in the midterm elections in the 10th Congressional District, a suburban Detroit seat carried by Trump in 2020 and drawn to favor the GOP.
The incoming congressman’s at least initially pragmatic approach to governing appears shaped by that experience. Republicans were predicted to win big on Nov. 8 only to fall short because independents and soft partisans pulled the lever for Democrats. James’s pragmatism is reflected in his emphasis on bipartisanship, even as House GOP leaders and many rank-and-file Republicans focus on investigating the Biden administration and the president’s son, Hunter Biden.
“Everything is political,” James lamented. “I plan on actually governing in a nonpartisan fashion because I think that 90% of the problems we face are nonpartisan.” James is angling for a coveted spot on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, where he believes he can have the most influence as a freshman congressman.
James is not naive. He knows neither he nor the vast majority of House Republicans are going to see eye to eye with Biden or the Democratic majority in the Senate — or, he adds with a tip of the hat to local politics, freshly reelected Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D-MI) on the polarizing issues that tend to dominate American politics at election time. Think abortion rights, immigration reform, climate, and energy policy.
But on the goals James has established — reducing the cost of household goods, bringing down crime, alleviating pressures in the supply chain, and growing the number of manufacturing jobs in Michigan and across the country — he believes there is plenty of common ground to be found if politicians are willing to look for it. Already James has identified one cross-aisle partner in this endeavor: his old (very good) friend and West Point classmate Rep. Pat Ryan (D-NY).
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“If this administration is actually willing to do what it says it’s going to do — reshoring, repatriating our manufacturing is a great place to start. The kid from Scranton, Pennsylvania, should be an ally in helping to make a more permissive biz environment,” James said, referring to where he sees an opportunity for bipartisanship with Biden.
“I’m looking forward to working with this administration, the Whitmer administration, and anyone Left, Right, and in between to make life for people in my district better,” James added. “People in my district don’t care if you’re red or blue; they just care if you’re right or wrong.”
