Even Biden’s ‘unity’ agenda could be tough going
WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden, understanding he will have to juggle differing priorities from a divided Congress, made just a handful of new requests to lawmakers in his State of the Union address.
Biden’s speech was more about the laws he and the previous Congress enacted than what he hopes to accomplish with the one he addressed in the House chamber Tuesday night.
But he still laid out some policies he hopes the divided Congress will address. Among the most achievable are proposals Biden calls his “unity agenda.”
Those include: providing housing assistance to veterans; enacting a universal cap on out-of-pocket insulin costs; more resources for cancer research; expanding on recent mental health laws; and combating the opioid epidemic.
While Republicans acknowledged interest in some of those ideas, they were mostly too annoyed with jabs Biden threw their way to entertain much talk of bipartisanship.
Republicans also took note that Biden made only cursory mention of some of their top priorities.
“He gave short shrift to the border and immigration,” Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., said. “He gave short shrift to the challenges we’re dealing with China.”
Democrats talk opportunity
With many Republicans in a sour mood, Democrats were mostly the lawmakers talking about the bipartisan opportunities from policy ideas Biden mentioned.
“I saw tonight everyone stand when he said we should leave no veteran unhoused and ill-fed,” House Veterans’ Affairs ranking member Mark Takano said.
The California Democrat said Republicans also stood when Biden touted the bipartisan law enacted last Congress to provide more generous health and disability benefits to veterans exposed to toxins during their service.
While Republicans voted for it, Takano said, it was “Democratic leadership that made that happen” and “it took veterans sleeping on the steps of the Senate to get that done.” He indicated that may not bode well for the prospects of quick action on veterans housing policy with Republicans now in control of the House.
Takano said he’s worried GOP plans to cut spending could impact veterans programs.
“I don’t want to pit homeless veterans against toxic-exposed veterans,” he said. “I don’t want a ‘Hunger Gam
es’ within veteran programs, and I certainly don’t want to pit veterans against other Americans.”
While Biden referred vaguely to “helping veterans afford their rent,” White House aides said earlier Tuesday that his forthcoming budget request will propose that Congress “pave the path to an entitlement” for veterans housing assistance.
Republicans generally oppose creating new entitlement programs that are categorized as mandatory spending because Congress has less oversight over those programs than discretionary spending.
‘A lot of momentum’
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., was pleased to hear Biden advocate for antitrust legislation, an issue she’s long championed and one she hopes Congress can finally pass this Congress.
“It has a lot of momentum,” she said, citing key Senate Republicans who are backing it. But Klobuchar acknowledged that Speaker Kevin McCarthy may be an obstacle, as she said tech lobbyists seem to have his ear.
“I noticed that he stood for the protection of children on the internet,” she said. “That is a whole group of bills that we have passed. And the second piece of it we’ll be doing something on competition policy. You just cannot continue to have companies that have, like Google, 90% market share and then no rules of the road.”
House Energy and Commerce member Kat Cammack, R-Fla., said Biden’s pledge to hold Big Tech accountable was encouraging.
“The trick is going to be putting a bill together that not just survives Congress but will avoid a veto when it gets to his desk,” Cammack said.
Democrats also are hoping that Biden’s renewed push to overhaul policing laws will gain traction.
“When he spoke about it, Republicans stood up and applauded, so I think there are opportunities in the House and the Senate to get some form of police [accountability legislation] done,” Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, said.
Family members of several Black men killed by police attended the State of the Union as lawmakers’ guests. One was the mother of Tyre Nichols, whose killing has brought the issue back to the forefront.