WASHINGTON (AP) – The weather is so bad at the US Capitol that a Democratic congressman recently let an elevator pass him instead of walking with fellow Republicans who voted against Joe Biden’s election certification..
Republicans say it’s the Democrats who just need to get over it – move on with the deadly January 6 attack on Capitol Hill, end COVID-19 restrictions and make an effort for bipartisanship.
With the new Congress still 100 days away, legislative power has become an increasingly toxic and unstable place, with lawmakers frustrated by the limits on home work imposed by the coronavirus and suspicious of each other after the January 6 riot over Donald Trump presidency.
Particularly in the House, which remains partially closed by the pandemic and where lawmakers heard gunshots during the siege, confidence is low, facts settled about the riot are apparently debated and cautious, exhausted members are unsure of how or when House ”will return to normal.
A new congresswoman said it was “painful” to see what happened to the institution she loved, in the country she swore to defend from foreign and domestic enemies.
“You know, sometimes I just close my eyes and, like, imagine this place the way it used to be, and how welcoming it was,” said Deputy Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., Elected for the first time in 2018.
An immigrant from Somalia, she said she uses the coping skills she learned as a child in wartime to enter the barbed wire fence, now with armed members of the National Guard, to “try to pretend that this is not what it is. “
The first months of the year revealed the scars of unprecedented historical events. The precipitation extends far beyond the broken windows and torn walls of the Capitol to the loss that comes from the absence of usual routines and visitors that were the daily buzz of democracy. With virtual meetings and socially distant votes, lawmakers have less opportunity to talk to each other, share ideas and assuage fears after the turmoil.
“The climate is toxic,” said Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Ill. “I mean, it’s really a shame to be in the minority, but it’s really worse when there is such a high party temperature.”
It reached a pressure point last week, when a dozen Republicans voted against awarding the Congressional Gold Medal to law enforcement officials who defended the Capitol, in part because the resolution mentioned the “insurrectionists” who attacked the “temple” of American democracy. The Democrats were stunned.
Despite the charged atmosphere, the House is moving ahead with Biden’s agenda, with the Democratic majority announcing the $ 1.9 trillion virus relief bill into law without the support of a single Republican. Tensions are delaying, but not stopping, rapid action on voting rights, weapons background checks and other legislative priorities, but leaving the potential for bipartisanship with Biden an open question.
One certainty is that the last president left an indelible mark on the legislature.
Trump’s type of policy is reshaping the Republican Party, as lawmakers imitate his style. Republican Party lawmakers generally dismiss the insurrection as simply a “protest”, even though 300 people were indicted for the attack. Republicans reject the House’s coronavirus restrictions, despite public health guidelines recommending vaccinations, wearing masks and social distance to prevent another increase.
Representative Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, said that in the events he attended at home, few people wear masks and “the attitude is that it is time to go back to normal, go back to freedom”.
The leadership sets the tone, and California MP Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., The leading Republican in the House, tried to suggest at a recent press conference that the Republican Party’s challenges to Biden’s victory were not intended to change the outcome of the election. – despite Trump urging his supporters to “fight like hell” on January 6, while lawmakers certified the results of the 2020 elections.
Five people died as a result of the Capitol attack, including a woman shot by the police and a police officer who later died from his injuries.
Dozens of lawmakers tested positive for the coronavirus, and two elected officials, both Republicans, died of COVID-19, just before their January 3 oath.
The Republican Party leader sent House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., A letter saying that the House should resume normal operations now that 75% of lawmakers are vaccinated.
Pelosi replied on Friday that the goal is “100%” compliance with the vaccination and social detachment guidelines.
One problem with resuming full face-to-face operations at Capitol is the lack of vaccination for thousands of employees for the 435 members of the House. So far, only two doses are available for each Chamber office, officials said. Six more doses are expected to be added in the next week.
The 100-member Senate largely resumed operations last spring.
For now, the House proxy vote that has been put in place to lessen the health risks of lawmakers traveling to Washington will persist. Visitors are still outside the boundaries of the Capitol.
“There are times when I am very excited and very happy, some really great things are happening,” said Massachusetts deputy Jim McGovern, the chairman of the House Rules Committee who jumped the elevator when he saw that he was carrying Republicans who challenged the presidential vote. .
But he said he was uncomfortable with lawmakers who “try to somehow claim that, you know, this was an act of patriotic people who disagreed? Give me some time.”
Of course, Democrats are more emotionally exhausted than House Republicans, who strengthened their ranks in the last election despite Trump’s defeat. His gains narrowed the path to regaining control of the House in 2022.
A Republican lawmaker aligned with Trump, Georgia’s deputy Marjorie Taylor Greene, began disrupting Democrats’ operations by calling for calls on routine legislation, testing the patience of lawmakers as the House’s lengthy procedures drag on into the nightly sessions. In February, the House voted to remove Greene from his committee duties because of his long history of outrageous social media posts and other actions.
While the security fence is scheduled to be removed from the Capitol, metal detectors remain parked outside the Chamber’s chamber after some Republican lawmakers promised to bring their firearms to the House floor.
Confidence is low.
“Do you think that?” said Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., among those who voted against police medals. “Look at the metal detectors here – we have to be squeezed.”
Congressman Steve Palazzo, R-Miss., Acknowledged: “There may be some relationship building that needs to happen.”
Deputy Norma Torres, D-Calif., Said she spent sleepless nights mentally repeating the January attack scenes.
She said she expects some assurance from her Republican colleagues that everyone is committed to the same goal of “defending our democracy”.
“If we want to get back to normal,” she said, “we have to be better than we are.”