Thu. Mar 28th, 2024

Republicans and Democrats in Congress Try to Be Friends Again—Sort of<!-- wp:html --><p>Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images</p> <p>A new term in Congress is weeks away, meaning a new class of freshmen—itching to get to work and eager to make a name for themselves—will soon be sworn in. But some of these incoming members have another goal, too.</p> <p>Nearly two years after Jan. 6, the new crop of freshman lawmakers are trying to bridge the partisan divides of a deeply fractured Congress. They are trying to work across the aisle and accomplish bipartisan goals. In plainspeak, Democrats and Republicans are trying to be friends—though they might not always want to show it.</p> <p>Members of Congress, in the House in particular, have seen their bipartisan camaraderie drop dramatically in recent years. The Jan. 6 insurrection made the situation worse, but four years of Trump had already driven a nasty, MAGA-tinged wedge between the two parties. Lawmakers <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/there-are-no-more-frenemies-in-congress-just-enemies">told The Daily Beast earlier this year</a> it’d become hard to hold up the once casual conversations they had with opposing members. The air in the Capitol was—and at times, still is—thick with resentment.</p> <p><a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/republicans-and-democrats-in-congress-try-to-be-friends-againsort-of?source=articles&via=rss">Read more at The Daily Beast.</a></p><!-- /wp:html -->

Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

A new term in Congress is weeks away, meaning a new class of freshmen—itching to get to work and eager to make a name for themselves—will soon be sworn in. But some of these incoming members have another goal, too.

Nearly two years after Jan. 6, the new crop of freshman lawmakers are trying to bridge the partisan divides of a deeply fractured Congress. They are trying to work across the aisle and accomplish bipartisan goals. In plainspeak, Democrats and Republicans are trying to be friends—though they might not always want to show it.

Members of Congress, in the House in particular, have seen their bipartisan camaraderie drop dramatically in recent years. The Jan. 6 insurrection made the situation worse, but four years of Trump had already driven a nasty, MAGA-tinged wedge between the two parties. Lawmakers told The Daily Beast earlier this year it’d become hard to hold up the once casual conversations they had with opposing members. The air in the Capitol was—and at times, still is—thick with resentment.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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