For a change: Bipartisanship in polarised Washington

AFTER weeks of tense negotiations and economic anxiety, the US Senate approved late Thursday (Jun 1) a bipartisan bill to suspend the debt ceiling, sending the legislation to President Joe Biden to sign it into law and avert a potentially catastrophic federal government default that could have devastated the US and global economies.

The bill passed the Senate by a 63-36 vote, after clearing the House of Representatives on Wednesday night by a 314-117 tally. The votes occurred after the White House and Congressional Republicans, led by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy of California, reached a compromise deal that, in response to Grand Old Party demands, reduced US spending by US$136 billion over the next two years while extending the debt limit to 2025 and thus avoiding a messy battle during a presidential election year.

It should have been a matter of routine for Congress to authorise borrowing funds it had already asked the US Treasury to spend, and thus sparing the tension over a possible disastrous default that could have resulted from the delay of the legislation.

Yet considering the current hyper-partisan political environment and the continuing legislative impasse in Washington, President Biden and Speaker McCarthy acted responsibly in reaching a compromise deal, demonstrating their commitment to preserve core national interests as opposed to surrendering to pressure from extremists in both parties.

Indeed, Speaker McCarthy was facing strong opposition from members of the right wing of his congressional contingency, most of whom are ardent supporters of former President Donald Trump, and who insisted that the party not agree to any deal that did not include massive spending cuts, including hundreds of billions of dollars in green energy finance.

At the same time, some members of the Democratic Party’s progressive wing argued that the White House could win the dangerous game of chicken with the Republicans by rejecting any spending cuts and by employing legislative manoeuvres to suspend the debt ceiling despite Republican opposition.

From that perspective, the Biden-McCarthy deal represents not only a sense of fiscal responsibility on the part of the two leaders, but more importantly, the victory of centrist pragmatism over ideological purism within the parties’ right and left wings.

But in terms of the big picture, it is President Biden who has emerged as the main winner from this latest political fight in Washington. After being criticised and mocked, even by Democrats, for trying to reach out to the other side and promote bipartisanship, the president demonstrated that, with more than four decades of experience in Washington, he remains the master of the political game.

Yet Speaker McCarthy also has to be congratulated for standing up to the Trumpists in his party and showing determination to use the power of his leadership to halt the messy bipartisan fighting on Capitol Hill, at least for a while, and help take care of the nation’s business.

As the US gears up for another presidential election year, many Americans and allies abroad are hoping that the momentum towards bipartisanship in Washington will continue. There is, after all, so much on the plate, in terms of both domestic and global imperatives, for Democrats and Republicans to tackle. Will they be able to work together and make legislative deals over issues such as the relationship with China, US assistance to Ukraine, and not least, the struggling American economy?