As the increasingly bitter fight between the rump group of so-called moderate Democrats and the rest of the party drags into another week, it’s easy to get caught up in intraparty recriminations. But on “Fox News Sunday,” House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) reminded Democrats — and television viewers — just what a difference a Democratic Congress makes.
The interview was a train wreck. Scalise tried to blame September’s disappointing jobs report on the government “paying people not to work,” even though supplemental unemployment benefits expired on Labor Day, at the start of the month. (The 26 states, mostly Republican-controlled, that withdrew those benefits even earlier saw no job growth, either.) Scalise complained that Democrats “want to keep revisiting” the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, even though, as host Chris Wallace pointed out, Republicans revisited the Benghazi attack for far longer.
But the lowest portion of the interview occurred when Wallace asked Scalise a simple question that keeps tripping up Republicans: “Do you think the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump?”
For Scalise, the answer wasn’t so simple: “Well, Chris, I’ve been very clear. If you look at a number of states, they didn’t follow their state-passed laws that govern the election for president. That is what the United States Constitution says.”
“But the states all certified [the results],” Wallace interjected.
“Right,” Scalise admitted. “But at the end of the day, are we going to follow what the Constitution says or not?”
Tellingly, Scalise didn’t detail what laws weren’t followed. Perhaps he was sheltering in the spooky uncertainty of vague constitutional violations. Or perhaps he didn’t want to specify because the court record is overwhelmingly against him. In Georgia, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and elsewhere, Trump campaign and Republican officials have lost or dropped lawsuit after lawsuit making these arguments. The suits have been rejected or dismissed by both Democrat and Republican judges, including some appointed by Trump himself.
Scalise persisted in dodging Wallace’s question in this fashion three times. (He also referred to Georgia’s new election law as “cleaning up some of the mess,” though the law’s passage was motivated by Trump’s lies about widespread voter fraud.) Despite having been at the Capitol last Jan. 6, despite having seen up close the tremendous damage done to our democracy by the “stolen election” falsehood, nearly a year on, the second-ranking House Republican can’t bring himself to dismiss that lie.
Scalise’s interview provides a helpful reminder to Democrats that, even if some can’t stand each other at the moment, the party needs to come together and pass President Biden’s “Build Back Better” agenda. First, and most simply, passing both the infrastructure deal and the reconciliation bill would help Democrats’ chances of holding the House. Polls show that both bills are popular as currently constructed — and that cutting the reconciliation bill does not increase its support. And because the bills’ benefits should begin being felt next year, they’ll remain assets through the election.
That said, even if Democrats do pass the popular bills and everything is implemented smoothly, it’s quite possible Scalise will be House majority leader come 2023. A narrow majority, lingering pandemic and the historical trend of incumbent presidents losing seats in midterm elections makes holding the House an uphill battle. A Republican majority would mean at least two years of Scalise and associates making mischief with frivolous investigations and sabotaging the president’s agenda as the 2024 election approaches.
Which brings us to the second reason to push forward on both Biden bills: The only way to hedge against future Republican-controlled Washington is to pass the most robust legislation possible in this Congress. As we’re now seeing with the Trump tax cuts (which Democrats aren’t fully reversing) and as Republicans found with the Affordable Care Act, most legislation is difficult to reverse in practice — even when the other party has total control. It’s hard to raise taxes or take away benefits. The more reforms Democrats can enact now, the more will survive the political pendulum’s likely swing to Republican control.
“There are some people that want to just ignore what the Constitution says and do their own thing,” Scalise said during the interview. He’s right, but those who would ignore the Constitution are on his side — including Trump. And those who make excuses for them, such as Scalise, have no business being in positions of authority. Democrats must remember that, as much as they may tire of each other, control of Congress is precious. That means doing everything in their power not just to boost their chance of holding both houses, but to best maximize that power before it is lost.
