President Joe Biden signaled on Wednesday how he would try to work across the aisle if Republicans win the House, but made clear there are some issues he won’t compromise on. CNN has not yet projected control of the House.
“I’m prepared to work with my Republican colleagues,” Biden said. “The American people have made clear, I think, that they expect Republicans to be prepared to work with me as well.”
Biden indicated he hopes there will continue to be cooperation across the aisle to deliver aid to Ukraine. “In the area of foreign policy, I hope we will continue a bipartisan approach of confronting Russia’s aggression in Ukraine.”
Biden also outlined what he does not want to see happen. “I’m not going to support any Republican proposal that’s going to make inflation worse,” and “I’m not going to walk away from historic commitments we just made to take on the climate crisis.”
Winning the House majority would give Republicans power to set the agenda in the chamber. House Republicans would also have subpoena power and control over powerful committees – and they have made clear they would make investigations into the Biden administration a top priority.
On the legislative front, there would be some must-pass policy issues — like funding the government — that would test the ability of Republicans and Democrats to work together if the GOP controls the House.
Asked if he believed the “MAGA fever” has been broken, Biden said, “I don’t think we are going to break the fever for the super mega MAGA Republicans. But I think they are more minority of Republican party. I think the vast majority of party, we disagree strongly on issues, but they are decent.”