Jonathan Bernstein, Columnist

Republicans Would Rather Lose Than Cut Deals

An oppose-everything strategy evident on pandemic relief has seemed to pay political dividends in the past.

March 11, 2021 at 12:30 PM UTC

Jonathan Bernstein is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering politics. A former professor of political science at the University of Texas at San Antonio, he wrote A Plain Blog About Politics.

How a bill becomes law.
Photographer: Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images

Provide news feedback or report an error

Site feedback:

Take our Survey

This article is for subscribers only.

Get Jonathan Bernstein’s newsletter every morning in your inbox. Click here to subscribe.

The $1.9 trillion pandemic relief bill, now on its way to President Joe Biden’s desk for his signature, is a major policy loss for Republicans. It’s also the logical consequence of their long-term strategy for dealing with new Democratic presidents: Oppose everything and regard losing as better than cutting a deal.