Biden’s plea for cooperation confronts a polarized Congress
Associated PressWASHINGTON — President-elect Joe Biden feels at home on Capitol Hill, but the place sure has changed since he left. “There is a certain opportunity for bipartisanship, but it is all going to be deals in the middle,” said Rohit Kumar, a former aide to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. “What I don’t know is whether the parties will allow them to do that because the parties have gotten a lot more polarized.” While it is not settled, Biden faces a high likelihood of becoming the first Democrat in modern history to assume office without his party controlling Congress. GOP control of the Senate would force Biden to curtail his ambitions, all but guaranteeing that big issues like climate change, immigration and expanding “Obamacare” remain mostly unaddressed. “Those deals were largely struck out of necessity in moments of crisis — fiscal cliff, debt limit, government shutdowns — those types of things,” said Brendan Buck, a former top aide to former House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis. “That’s when they had to get together and get things done. “The difference between a 50-50 Senate controlled by Democrats and a 51-49 Republican-controlled Senate could not be any more stark,” said veteran Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois.