A recent spate of bipartisan bills passed by the House and Senate is being greeted with relief by media outlets, despite widespread public skepticism that Washington has the solutions to America’s problems.
Republicans maintained control of the House and took the Senate in the 2014 midterm elections. But since January, both parties have come together to pass several pieces of legislation, breaking through years of gridlock and brinksmanship.
In the latest example of bipartisanship, Senate leaders announced Tuesday that they are set to pass a long-stalled sex trafficking bill which would then clear the way for Loretta Lynch, President Obama’s attorney general nominee, to receive a confirmation vote.
“The movement on the paired issues is the latest signal that the years of gridlock that ground legislative business in the Senate to a halt may be lifting, and further evidence McConnell wasn’t merely bluffing when he promised to prove the GOP could govern when they took control of the Senate this year,” CNN reported Tuesday.
Last week, Congress passed a bill that changed the way doctors are reimbursed by the government for treating Medicare patients. To honor the achievement, Obama invited lawmakers to celebrate Tuesday in the White House Rose Garden. The Associated Press described the scene as “an alternate world of negotiation, conciliation, achievement and, yes, even camaraderie.”
Congress also recently passed a bill that asserted its role in White House negotiations with Iran over the country’s nuclear development program and another intended to improve energy efficiency in heating and cooling systems.
The celebratory tone by some in the media could be viewed as indicative of the the national press’s bias in favor of Washington’s “getting things done,” even while many Americans doubt that more legislation necessarily means progress. According to Gallup polling, the number of Americans who “trust government in Washington to do what is right” has plummeted since 2002, to just 19 percent, while the percentage of those who rarely or never trust Washington to do what is right has skyrocketed to 81 percent.
Dana Milbank, a left-leaning columnist for the Washington Post, wrote Tuesday that the cooperation is small but significant. “Baby steps count,” he wrote.
A study by the Bipartisan Policy Center last week claims that there has been a change since Republicans took control of Congress. “[T]here are signs that Congress is slowly beginning to move in the right direction,” the study said. “More working days in Washington, more regular order and more amendments in the Senate.”
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) praises himself, in part, for the new bipartisanship. “I think the way the Senate’s being run is very positive, with a significant number of Democrats who have come over to me frequently and say, ‘Thank you for changing the way the Senate is operating,'” he said in an interview with the Hill on Tuesday.
