Republican and Democratic senators got a lecture Wednesday on how to get along with each other at the second of what may become regular bipartisan luncheons.
“I think the whole idea idea behind it is to create relationships,” Sen. John Thune, a South Dakota Republican Senate leader, told the Washington Examiner after leaving the lunch. “Relationships lead to collaboration. When you humanize it and personalize it so that people get more comfortable, when it comes to serious issues I think it creates better conditions for actually getting things done.”
Another bipartisan lunch is planned for early summer.
Lawmakers say the planned get-togethers are needed these days, because senators are spending less time in Washington and are around each other either spontaneously or at social events, which has created a distance that stifles their ability to work together.
The first bipartisan lunch was held in February.
Wednesday’s event, held in a dining room on the top floor of a Senate office building, featured Aspen Institute CEO Walter Isaacson, who lectured senators on the history of collaboration in the U.S. government, specifically the way Benjamin Franklin created diverse working groups to come up with ideas for solving political problems and strengthening the nation.
The menu included “just the typical fish and meat,” Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., told the Examiner. “And Jell-O.”
The event drew the ever-dueling Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Harry Reid, D-Nev., the respective Republican and Democratic leaders of the Senate, whose epic floor battles have come to symbolize the dysfunction and gridlock that have plagued the chamber for years and prevented much of anything from passing.
That didn’t stop the two leaders from addressing lawmakers about working together.
“This was to hear a joint conversation, to find ways to find some common ground,” Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., the number-four Democratic Senate leader, told the Examiner after the lunch.
Pre-arranged seating paired lawmakers at opposite ends of the political spectrum. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., sat with Tom Cotton, R-Ark., and Gardner shared a table with Democratic Sens. Richard Durbin of Illinois and Debbie Stabenow of Michigan.
“I think the more times we get together, the more likely we are to have some bipartisanship,” said Senate Budget Committee Chairman Mike Enzi, R-Wyo.
As in recent years, the Senate in 2015 has struggled to get past partisan legislative gridlock, but there have been some notable successes.
The Senate on Tuesday night passed a bill to overhaul Medicare reimbursement payments for doctors who treat seniors while also making changes to reduce the cost of the entitlement.
Also on Tuesday, Republicans and Democrats agreed unanimously in committee to back a plan requiring congressional approval of any nuclear deal with Iran.
The Senate remains stuck, however, on finding the agreement needed to pass a human trafficking bill, which McConnell said must be approved before he will allow the Senate to consider the confirmation of attorney general nominee Loretta Lynch.
Gardner said he talked to Democrats about a compromise idea on the human trafficking bill, but would not disclose the details.
“A number of us have ideas and are talking about ways forward on issues that have been bogged down,” Gardner said. “Get out of your political corners and find a way forward.”
