House Republicans dumping Rep. Liz Cheney from GOP leadership may be a boon for President Joe Biden and congressional Democrats heading into the 2022 midterm elections — but not after.
But should Republicans clinch control of the House and Senate in next year’s elections, as history suggests, the pro-Donald Trump political terrain will be harder for Biden to navigate, despite his campaign promises of unity and brokering bipartisan deals. First-term presidents typically lose one or both chambers, and that likely will bring the process of making laws to a halt, complicating both sides’ ability to do routine tasks like keep the federal government open.
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Republicans have dismissed the idea bipartisanship was even a possibility given the leftward lean of Biden’s early priorities, dashing the Democratic president’s hope the GOP would experience an “epiphany” after the Trump presidency.
“With the Democrats rushing through an unprecedented partisan takeover of elections with their Corrupt Politicians Act, they clearly have no intention to work with Republicans and conservatives,” former Kansas GOP Rep. Tim Huelskamp told the Washington Examiner.
The ex-Tea Party Caucus chairman went on: “The removal of Liz Cheney from a ceremonial position among House Republicans has absolutely no impact on this extreme Democrat agenda.”
Former Georgia Rep. Bob Barr described Biden’s and Democrats’ bipartisan posturing as “laughable” after they muscled the $1.9 trillion coronavirus spending package through Congress using a fast-track process that negated the need for Republican votes. Biden and Democrats are poised to deploy the reconciliation process again to use only their own votes to pass their more than $4 trillion infrastructure-plus and social welfare plans as they maneuver within the short period of time before 2022.
But as one of ex-President Bill Clinton’s impeachment managers, Barr criticized Republicans for not ousting Cheney as conference chairwoman in February because the delay provided an opportunity for the political narrative of Trump and the 2020 election to fester.
For Barr, Republican prospects of flipping the House and Senate in 2022 would depend on whether the GOP could “get their act together” and propose a “positive,” “forward-looking” platform based on immigration and the economy.
“You don’t have to go out there shouting about Trump. What you do is you go out there, and you shout about those things that were the centerpieces of Trump’s presidency which worked and which should be the centerpiece for the Republican agenda in this cycle,” he said.
Former South Carolina GOP congressman and climate change advocate Bob Inglis was more strident in his opposition to House Republicans’ decision to usurp Cheney, contending the party was “building our house on shifting sand.”
“We’re doubling down on a doctrine of grievance. We’re adding to it sort of a bitterness that sounds like sore losers, and it doesn’t fit optimistic America,” he said. “It doesn’t show the power in the hope of conservative principles and ideas. Rather it shows sort of doubling down on identity politics that can only be divisive.”
Political “retreads” are rarely successful, he warned, arguing it was “wiser” for Republicans to focus on “sensible fiscal policy” and “climate action that doesn’t involve regulation.”
“What worked in the aftermath of Obama won’t work against Joe Biden,” he said. “In the aftermath of Obama, you’re able to add racial resentment to the mix, and that is an accelerant in the arsonist grab bag. But Joe Biden is an old, white, union Democrat. He’s not a newfangled, erudite college professor with a funny name.”
Former Colorado Rep. Bob Beauprez, who “regrets” the intraparty “schism” over a personality, agreed Republicans should concentrate “on who really is our opposition.” And Biden is already in a “very precarious situation” with the issues at the southern border, in the Middle East, and with China, Beauprez explained, including post-pandemic inflation on the list.
“There’s some percentage of the electorate that did not so much vote for Joe Biden as they voted against Donald Trump. At least that percentage, and perhaps more, are going to be looking and questioning whether or not they made the right calls,” he said. “And their first bite of that apple will be in 2022. They’ll have another opportunity in 2024.”
Biden has teased the potential for a bipartisan deal, at least on the parts of his infrastructure framework that specify spending on transportation, water, and broadband projects. This week alone, he has or will host House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, and a group of Republican senators counteroffering a $568 billion compromise.
McCarthy’s Oval Office visit, the first of Biden’s presidency, was scheduled hours after House Republicans held a voice vote to push Cheney out of her leadership post essentially over her refusal to keep quiet regarding Trump’s claims he won the 2020 election but for widespread voter fraud. Cheney’s replacement will likely be New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, a Trump ally, a move that will embolden other Trump supporters and may create difficulties for Biden.
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White House press secretary Jen Psaki said it was “disturbing” to see any political leader attacked for “speaking the truth.” Last week, Biden admitted he did not “understand” House Republicans’ calculation concerning Cheney.
“The president is no stranger to working with people who he disagrees with, or he has massive fundamental disagreements with,” Psaki told reporters on Wednesday. “The facts are on our side, and more than 80 judges across the country threw out lawsuits attempting to overturn the outcome of the election.”
