White House emphasizes bipartisanship at outset of divided Congress

The White House is looking to rise above the fray of a divided Congress engulfed in drama as a new House GOP majority was sworn in on Tuesday.

With Washington set to be defined by divided government for the next two years and House Republicans already beset by infighting, President Biden and his team are hoping to focus on outreach to moderate GOP lawmakers and highlight bipartisan achievements from the past two years as they gear up for a possible 2024 campaign.

The strategy will be on display on Wednesday, when Biden makes his first trip on the first full day of the new Congress to Kentucky to tout infrastructure investments alongside Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and other lawmakers from both parties.

“The president has always been very clear … that he’s willing to work with Republicans who are willing to continue to deliver for the American people,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Tuesday. “And it’s not just him. This is what the American public said very loudly and clearly after the midterms. They want us to deliver on a common ground, to deliver on the needs of what’s important for them.”

The White House enters a new year facing a divided Congress following two years of Democrats holding narrow majorities in both chambers, which allowed Biden to pass key priorities on climate change, health care and the economy via the reconciliation process without Republican votes.

Democrats still hold a two-seat majority in the Senate, but Republicans now hold a 10-seat majority in the House. Even as the House GOP struggles to unify, the split Congress is likely to result in gridlock that will leave most of Biden’s remaining legislative priorities languishing.

Biden has said he views the midterm election results as a message from the American public for lawmakers to work together. A House GOP majority intent on investigating Biden and positioning their party for a 2024 White House win is unlikely to provide much help, even on key issues like raising the debt ceiling to avoid a government default.

But aides say Biden is clear-eyed about the challenges ahead in the next two years and is ready to build on his record of bipartisan wins from the past two years and bolster his reputation as someone willing to reach across the aisle.

“Thanks to his experience and judgment, the President has gone beyond his promise to find consensus across the aisle, bringing Republicans and Democrats together to realize some of his top campaign platforms and move the country forward,” deputy White House press secretary Andrew Bates said in a memo to reporters before the new year.

“And he has been explicit at every turn before and after the midterms that he’s eager to keep working with his Republican colleagues, noting that American voters made clear that they expect the parties to work together when they rallied around his agenda and grew Democrats’ numbers in the Senate,” Bates added.

Biden’s first two years saw him sign off on more than 200 bipartisan bills, according to the White House, including a $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill that will be a focus of Biden’s travels in 2023. Other bipartisan legislation included investments in semiconductor chip manufacturing, strengthened gun safety laws, protections for same-sex marriages and increased assistance for veterans who were exposed to toxic burn pits.

The president is expected to sell those accomplishments and his broader economic agenda in the run up to a possible 2024 campaign launch in the first half of the year.

White House officials, particularly in the legislative affairs office, are likely to continue reaching out to senators they’ve had success working with previously. Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Mitt Romney (R-Utah) are among those they’ve had success negotiating with in the past.

On the House side, some Biden administration officials believe there will be opportunities to forge relationships with some moderate Republicans. In particular, the White House will be testing the waters with first-term GOP lawmakers who represent districts that Biden carried in 2020, believing those representatives will need some policy wins to sell to their constituents back home for reelection in two years.

The White House’s strategy will be put into action on the second day of the new Congress, when Biden travels to Kentucky to speak about a major investment in a bridge that connects Kentucky and Ohio. The project is being funded through the bipartisan infrastructure law that Biden signed in late 2021. Other officials will fan out around the country on Wednesday to tout the administration’s economic agenda.

McConnell will be in attendance in his home state of Kentucky, as will Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D), among other officials. 

“We’ve been friends a long time,” Biden said of McConnell on Monday upon returning to the White House from a holiday vacation in the U.S. Virgin Islands.  “Everybody is talking about how significant it is. It has nothing to do about our relationship. … It’s a giant bridge, man. It’s a lot of money. It’s important.”

The visit will be in stark contrast to the chaos that unfolded Tuesday in the House, where Republicans could not come to consensus on a lawmaker to back for Speaker.

“It can highlight that we do big profound things for the country when we work together,” Jean-Pierre said. “And I think that’s an important message to send to the American people, especially after the midterms.”