Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Rep. Van Taylor, R-Texas, was known for working the other side of the aisle, talking to and collaborating with Democrats the same way he did in the Texas Legislature.
But bipartisanship has been a struggle since pandemic measures have forced leaders into virtual hearings, and with remote voting, sometimes Taylor says he goes weeks at a time without being able to find a colleague in person.
Even if he does, personal interactions are awkward. Members can’t see him smiling, and there is the dreaded confusion over whether they are comfortable shaking hands, or they would rather simply fist bump.
But bipartisanship is “still a priority,” Taylor said.
He has focused on maintaining the relationships he’s already built across the aisle, and every time he co-sponsors legislation written by a Democrat he “insists” on a Zoom meeting with that member.
“It’s just, it is harder to break through the mask.”
Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, D-Dallas, who is chairwoman of the Committee on Science, Space and Technology, echoed the sentiment.
“As long as we are not talking with each other and establishing those relationships that we are accustomed to trying to establish when we are with each other in person every day, it has had a negative impact on us,” Johnson said.
While virtual meetings and social distancing have been vital to the common public health cause of reducing coronavirus infections, they also deprive members of important face-to-face interactions that drive bipartisanship in the institution.
With the CDC’s announcement Thursday that vaccinated people can gather without masks indoors, there is hope that those bipartisan interactions may become more common once again.
Members celebrated the announcement. Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, posted a video of himself taking off in his mask in slow motion.
But Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she will not lift the mask mandate on the House floor until more members of the House get vaccinated.
At least 44.8% of House members are vaccinated and at least 92% of senators are, CNN reported, but some members refused to confirm if they had been vaccinated or not. The Capitol physician put the number of vaccinated House members closer to 75%, Politico reported.
Until restrictions can be lifted, it’s going to be harder to get things done, Johnson said.
“It is clear that the restraints on which we are working now has prolonged the time that it gets us to get anything accomplished,” Johnson said. “I’d feel much better if we were kind of down the line and achieving some of the things we need so badly, but we’re not together. I’m in D.C., and a number of others are in D.C., but we still don’t see each other unless we vote in the same group.”
Pre-pandemic dysfunction
Former members of Congress sounded alarm bells of congressional dysfunction before the pandemic, saying that the institution drove partisanship and prevented members from functioning correctly, in a bipartisan report by the Association of Former Members of Congress.
Forging relationships across party lines is the best way to pass legislation and fight polarization, but when members don’t have the opportunity to work in close proximity to each other, it is difficult to get to that point, said one of the report’s authors, Leonard Steinhorn, a professor of communication at American University.
The report found that members of Congress have little incentive to build relationships across the aisle, and an “us versus them” mentality is pervasive. Committees and subcommittees can be safe havens for bipartisanship, but cultivating that culture is up to committee leaders.
It warned that further limiting those interactions due to the coronavirus, while necessary, “should not be interpreted as a virtue.”
“If you don’t begin to build in a degree of trust and end the demonization and dehumanization of the other and see that somebody has a different perspective based on their constituency and their community,” Steinhorn said, “then you continue to look at the other side, at the other party in a two-dimensional way without the level of depth and texture that you need to understand.”
The United States has a long history of partisanship and bipartisanship, and the idea of partisan polarization first appeared at the end of the 19th century, said Hong Min Park, associate professor of political science at The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
There was a myriad of factors that contributed to polarization. It was partly a vestige of the Civil War, and Democratic Southern states, now that they were back in government after the war, differed from Republican states on issues to do with business, like tariffs and patronage.
At this time, it was uncommon for members to spend much time in Washington, where there was no air conditioning yet. They lacked collegiality found during other periods in the country’s history, like in the 1950s, when members spent more time in the capital, Park said.
“That actually was a significant component for bipartisanship,” Park said.
Breaking through
Establishing relationships during a pandemic has proven to be difficult, but with the light at the end of the tunnel in view, members are focused on pushing through.
For some lawmakers, it has been a challenge to get past the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, when supporters of former President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol after they were fed the “Big Lie” that the election was stolen. Johnson described it as “traumatic.”
“We’ve not been able to work ourselves that much away from [Jan. 6] because we’ve not had that opportunity to be with each other, to see … that people can still work together,” Johnson said.
There is a “trust chasm” in Congress right now because of Jan. 6, Steinhorn said. Rebuilding that trust is difficult, and it will continue to be difficult as long as that lie is pervasive throughout the halls of Congress and in the Republican party.
“It gets magnified by the fact that you don’t even have conversations,” Steinhorn said.
Johnson said she and Rep. Frank Lucas of Oklahoma, the ranking Republican on her committee, have “a rather extraordinary relationship” where they sometimes fly together and take the time to talk together on issues.
“I don’t know how much of that is going on. I know quite a bit of it is,” Johnson said. “But I also know that tension is still pretty high.”
While bipartisanship may often seem like an unreachable ideal in the current political climate, it is necessary for the government to function, Park said.
Taylor acknowledged the tragedy of Jan. 6, but he urged members of Congress to work together.
“For our republic to survive, people have to strive to find common ground,” Taylor said.
