Expectations never were great for comity and bipartisanship between President Joe Biden and the Senate Democratic majority on one side and the House GOP on the other.
But Biden’s State of the Union address on Feb. 7 suggested relations can sink further with the House, where Republicans in 2022 won a narrow 222-213 House majority. All the while, financial markets grow increasingly jittery over the prospect of a debt ceiling breach if an agreement to raise the nation’s borrowing limit isn’t completed in the coming months.
Officially, both sides pledged to play nice. Biden touted his administration’s accomplishments over the last two years while urging lawmakers to continue pushing for bipartisanship in the divided Congress. And ahead of the address, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) had urged Republican conference members to be on their best behavior.
During the first half of his 72-minute address, Biden sought to paint a picture of unity by pointing to times Democrats and Republicans “came together” to get things done, repeating the phrase at least six times. But as the night went on, the president seemingly struck a chord among Republicans as he urged them to back his agenda.
RICK SCOTT RELEASES ATTACK AD AFTER BIDEN CLAIMS GOP WANTS TO CUT MEDICARE
As Biden promoted several tenets of his platform, the president engaged in a handful of real-time debates with rank-and-file Republicans as they pushed back on his comments. That prompted some GOP leaders to decry his address as overtly partisan.
“That was one of the most partisan State of the Union speeches I’ve ever heard,” McCarthy said in a tweet following the speech, his first sitting on the House dais just behind President Joe Biden and next to Vice President Kamala Harris.
Biden overtly tangled with Republicans after he accused GOP lawmakers of seeking to cut Medicare and Social Security benefits, arguing they want the programs to “sunset every five years.” That comment elicited outcry from Republicans, who heckled the president with boos and shouts of “Liar!”
“Yeah, he got exactly what he deserved, and I’m not sorry one bit,” said Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), who made headlines after disrupting Biden’s comments. “I don’t think Speaker McCarthy is upset with any of us for expressing our views and being unwilling to allow the president to lie. What am I supposed to do? Stand up and give golf claps? No thank you.”
Biden then used the moment to hold a live policy debate, asking Republicans, “So folks, as we all apparently agree, Social Security and Medicare is off the books now, right?” The comment was met with cheers from Democrats and even some Republicans as the president flashed a thumbs up to the chamber.
The repeated heckling during the annual event, one filled with pomp and tradition, highlights the partisan challenges facing the new Congress as both parties remain hesitant to budge on their priorities. The State of the Union also hinted at growing opposition within the Republican Party after members witnessed a tense exchange between Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) and embattled Rep. George Santos (R-NY).
Romney was heard confronting Santos to tell him he “shouldn’t have been there,” referring to scrutiny surrounding the freshman lawmaker as he faces alleged campaign finance violations and has admitted to fabricating several details about his resume while campaigning for office.
Santos alleged that Romney called him an “ass,” to which Santos responded by calling Romney “a much bigger asshole.”
Several Democrats denounced Republicans’ behavior during the State of the Union address, with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) calling it “insensitive and insulting.”
“I think it was quite surprising, quite shocking,” Ocasio-Cortez told ABC News. “Even under President [Donald] Trump and his administration, we never saw such a contentious, heckled State of the Union, even when President Trump himself was advancing statements that many would have considered false.”
Centrist Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) also expressed disapproval toward Republicans’ heckling during the State of the Union, calling the jeers “not acceptable.” Manchin has attempted to establish himself as a bridge and crucial mediator between party leaders. He is up for reelection in 2024 and faces one of the toughest races for a Senate Democrat, in deep-red West Virginia.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
“That’s just not acceptable in the type of country we are and the leader of the free world,” Manchin said. “Might be accepted in a Third World country but not here.”
Meanwhile, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) wrote off the dissension as merely an act of “showbiz.”
“I think that they were protesting too much. They knew that they had been identified as putting Medicare and Social Security on the table,” said Pelosi, House speaker from 2007-2011 and 2019-2023 and now a rank-and-file Democratic lawmaker. “And they were trying to dismiss that. But the fact is, it still is part of who they are.”
