WASHINGTON – Freshman deputy Jake Auchincloss, a Democrat, began to turn to an unusual source when trying to decide whether he wants to work with a Republican he believes to be a good argument during the committee’s hearings: Google.
The Massachusetts lawmaker says he knows his voters want him to work across the hall, but he is drawing a “sharp red line” in working with Republicans who voted not to certify the results of the Electoral College as part of the failed attempt by the then President Donald Trump to overturn his defeat in the election.
If a quick search produces evidence that one of his Republican colleagues refused to acknowledge President Joe Biden’s victory, he said, “I kind of throw cold water at everything,” adding that, although he doesn’t like political litmus tests , “insurrection against the United States government qualifies.”
Auchincloss is not alone.
Democratic lawmakers are drawing their own lines, and some are finding that this means that there are colleagues with whom they worked to draft bipartisan legislation, but with whom they are now unable, or unwilling, to collaborate.
The January 6 Capitol riot has sparked an impeachment process and hundreds of criminal cases, but it is also having a lasting impact on Congress to complete even some of the most basic and mundane tasks.
The public tends to pay close attention when Congress does things like passing $ 2 trillion bills. But it is the day-to-day activities that draw little attention and keep the environment busy.
Democrats say that, for now, it is about Republicans not sharing a fundamental belief in democracy and elections.
Rep. Sean Casten, D-Ill., Opposed the House’s routine task of naming a post office because it was proposed by Republican Rep. Trent Kelly, R-Miss., Whom Democrats accuse of supporting the Jan. 6 protest. and that he also voted to cancel the vote of the Electoral College in two states.
Congressman Brad Schneider, D-Ill., Has one basic requirement before he can work with a Republican: “At the fundamental level, I need an affirmative statement that Joe Biden is the legitimate president of the United States and the 2020 election was a honest and fair election. “
Schneider, a member of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus, who is known to reach the other side of the corridor, said that after the Jan. 6 riot, he had to cut past working relationships.
He and Republican Congresswoman Jody Hice of Georgia were working together on a task force that the two founded in ethylene oxide, a toxic carcinogen that is particularly problematic in the Chicago and Atlanta areas.
But he told Hice that he could not work with him after the Republican continued to claim that the election was affected by fraud, most recently saying at the Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC, that Trump only lost Georgia because of the “horrible” “Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, also a Republican.
“It is difficult to imagine entering a government with a partner who does not recognize the legitimacy of that government or shows a commitment to the truth,” said Schneider.
Schneider also told Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., That he could no longer sponsor a bill that the two have worked together since 2017, which provides protection for the Family and Medical Leave Act for parents who have lost a child . Gosar has been one of the strongest supporters of the false claims that the election was stolen.
“If I want to move this bill forward, I need credibility on both sides. And (he) makes it a little bit more difficult, ”said Schneider.
Congresswoman Cindy Axne, an Iowa Democrat, tweeted on January 25 about her desire to guarantee bipartisan achievements.
But the next day, Republican Representative Jason Smith of Missouri responded – by posting a picture of an email between his offices. The subject of the January 11 email seemed to ask whether Axne wanted to co-sponsor a “kidney insurance” bill.
A staff member from Axne’s office replied, “I hope you are well and running. Our office is refusing to work with your office at this time, due to your boss’s position in the election.”
When sharing email correspondence, Smith asked, “Aren’t you kicking Republicans out of your accounts anymore?”
Axne redefined the bill on Tuesday, unveiling it with deputy Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Wash., Who voted for Trump’s impeachment.
Democrats are also calling on their Republican colleagues. Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., The chairman of the House Management Committee, released a “social media analysis” of nearly 2,000 pages of Republican members in the run up to January 6. The report aims to create a compilation of members’ public comments that could be used going forward.
The slowdown is not one-sided.
A small number of Republicans are blocking the rapid approval of typically non-controversial bipartisan bills in the House, known as suspension projects, due to frustration with Democrats for not allowing amendments to the legislation.
“Suspensions are, frankly, the only item left and which we dealt with on a bipartisan basis,” Democratic House leader Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., Told reporters on Tuesday.
Congresswoman Ann McLane Kuster, DN.H., said she will only work with Republicans who “recognize the legal election of Joe Biden”.
Kuster says he asked his team to look at Republicans’ social media feeds to determine if they met their standards, calling it “painful” when a Republican she worked with during her eight years in Congress is someone she can’t more work.
“If you don’t recognize our democracy right now, then I don’t think it will be useful for successful legislation,” she said.