Time for Democrats to Get Out of the Bipartisanship Business

In the week since that vote was taken, enormous pressure was applied to those Democrats who, in a fit of what was either ignorance or insanity, voted to give Trump the power to lay waste to the Democratic Party. On Thursday, the House took another vote on the bill, this time passing it by a vote of 219–184. The full-court press to get Democrats to change their vote had some limited impact. It’s still disheartening to see that 15 Democrats backed a plan to give the incoming president these dangerous new powers. The tendency of some Democrats to seek common ground is a habit that they must begin to unlearn as they face the prospect of a second Trump term. Instead, they should steal what’s been a highly successful move from the Republicans: Don’t provide any votes for the things that the GOP majority wants to do, no matter what they are.

This would be a great way for Democrats to honor the outgoing Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who made the denial of bipartisanship a singular demand of his caucus during the Obama era, correctly understanding that whenever the president earned GOP votes for his agenda, these became more resounding wins than bills passed under party-line votes. Democrats need to approach the next Congress with the same zeal: If the GOP wants to claim a mandate, good for them. But they’ll have to shift the millstone of governance on their own, which is something that many Republicans aren’t sure they’re good at doing. If they come looking for Democrats to help, the message should be consistent: KMAGYOYO.

The fact that H.R. 9495, a bill whose sponsors are essentially asking Democrats to be the brilliant ally of their own gravediggers, even exists should be sufficient to steel the party to the task ahead. Democrats should reflect on just how difficult the GOP has made it to do the nation’s urgent business over the years—from pandemic mitigation to confirming routine appointments—and on the incoming president’s plan for mayhem, and be willing to challenge the GOP to run the country on their own. In fact, the Democrats’ baseline assumption should be that they don’t want their fingerprints anywhere near the things that Trump plans to do.