As Republican leader Kevin McCarthy fought party hardliners in a faltering bid to become US House speaker, his GOP counterpart in the Senate was almost 500 miles away from Washington — celebrating a landmark bipartisan accomplishment with the Democratic president.
(Bloomberg) — As Republican leader Kevin McCarthy fought party hardliners in a faltering bid to become US House speaker, his GOP counterpart in the Senate was almost 500 miles away from Washington — celebrating a landmark bipartisan accomplishment with the Democratic president.
With the House at a standstill after a half-dozen failed votes on a speaker, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell welcomed President Joe Biden to his home state of Kentucky to herald a new bridge that will be funded by the infrastructure law the two men partnered to pass through Congress last year.
McConnell and Biden are more often at odds than not, but have found slivers of common ground. House Republicans, by contrast, have so far found it impossible to agree just among themselves on the simple question of who will lead their chamber.
Wednesday’s dueling events highlighted the raw wound at the center of the GOP, as the party continues to struggle with its domination by former President Donald Trump and his allies. Following three failed votes for speaker on Tuesday, McCarthy called Trump, who then issued an endorsement for the California Republican.
But Trump has assailed McConnell, the Senate Republican leader, as a turncoat for refusing to back his false claims of a rigged 2020 election and for teaming with Biden on issues including the infrastructure law.
“This bridge, I think, symbolizes the coming together of both sides on something that both sides thought was important,” McConnell said at the event. “The government is working together to solve a major problem at a time when the country needs to see examples like this, of coming together and getting an outcome.”
Biden poked fun at the gridlock in the House, saying Representative Greg Landsman, an Ohio Democrat, could not attend the bridge event because of the speaker votes.
“He’s dealing with trying to figure out who’s going to be the next speaker of the House of Representatives,” Biden deadpanned at the site of the bridge. “And I wish him a lot of luck — he may be the first freshman ever elected speaker of the House of Representatives.”
‘Embarrassing’ Ordeal
Biden earlier Wednesday called the Republican struggle to elect a speaker “embarrassing” for the country. “It’s not a good look. It’s not a good thing. This is the United States of America. And I hope they get their act together,” Biden said as he left for Kentucky.
The location of the bridge offered a symbolic bipartisan ground zero. Kentucky has a Democratic governor and two Republican senators, while Ohio has a Republican governor and one senator from each party.
“This is not just about a bridge between Ohio and Kentucky. This is about a more effective bridge for our country,” said Rob Portman, a former Republican Ohio senator.
His successor, JD Vance, who was elected in 2022 with Trump’s support, did not attend. But McConnell and Biden were joined by Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, also a Republican.
White House aides believe Biden can replicate Democrats’ relative success in November’s midterm elections by highlighting his efforts to reach across the aisle, while painting Republican opponents as aligned with extremists.
McConnell’s decision to attend the event was rooted in local politics. The bridge will supplement an existing span that has become a major source of congestion for drivers in Ohio and Kentucky.
But his attendance underscored the widening divisions within the Republican Party, on full display in the House chamber. McConnell has been celebrated by many Republicans during his 17-year tenure as party leader for deftly pursuing conservative priorities, particularly judicial nominees.
McConnell and Trump
On Tuesday, McConnell became the longest serving Senate party leader in US history.
His falling out with Trump over the former president’s efforts to overturn his re-election defeat — and the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol — illustrates the difficult path that party leaders must navigate as they seek to retain base voters loyal to Trump while appealing to swing voters who dislike him. McConnell has suggested Republicans were unable to win the Senate in 2022 because of the quality of their candidates, several of whom were endorsed by Trump over more moderate options.
“We all know these are really partisan times, but I always feel no matter who gets elected, once it’s all over, we ought to look for things that we can agree on,” McConnell said Wednesday.
Biden thanked McConnell, and — in a nod to Republican infighting — said he told him he would campaign for him or against him, “whichever helped him the most.”
The leaders focused on infrastructure, sidestepping disputes including Republican furor that Democrats pushed through Biden’s climate-and-tax plan, the Inflation Reduction Act, and lingering Democratic anger over McConnell’s refusal to advance Barack Obama’s 2016 Supreme Court pick, Merrick Garland.
“After years of politics being so divisive, there are bright spots across the country. The Brent Spence Bridge is one of them,” Biden said. “A bridge to the vision of America I know we all believe in, where we can work together to get things done.”
Biden announced that the federal government will also fund three other major bridge projects: improvements to the Golden Gate Bridge connecting San Francisco with Marin County, California; the I-95 Gold Star Memorial Bridge in New London, Connecticut; and a series of bridges spanning the Calumet River on the South Side of Chicago.
The infrastructure law included $40 billion in funding to repair and rebuild bridges across the country.
–With assistance from Josh Wingrove and Erik Wasson.
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