Shh. Congress Is Working.
The headlines are about gridlock, but behind the scenes bipartisan legislation is moving forward.
Bipartisan whispers: Senators Roy Blunt and Patty Murray during a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee hearing last week.
Photographer: Stefani Reynolds-Pool/Getty Images North America
The news from Washington last week, as usual, was grim. Senate Republicans blocked legislation to create a bipartisan commission to investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. Bipartisan talks over President Joe Biden’s infrastructure proposals are dragging out. Senators negotiating a police-reform bill missed their deadline.
It’s disappointing to progressives who want to see the government get things done, and to moderates who were hoping a Biden White House would successfully lower the temperature of American politics after the zany Trump years. Even conservatives, who are largely responsible for the gridlock, profess to be disappointed.