The ONLY way Congress will be able to get ANYTHING passed will NOT be about Donald Trump….
It WILL be about the lawmakers working WITH each other to compromise on drafting legislation….
Time to get back down to business….
Something that will NOT have Trump looking over their shoulder at first….
But WILL have Democrat Nancy Pelosi hovering in the background ….
Senators are scouring for bipartisan bills as they try to put the divisive impeachment fight behind them.
The push for ideas that could breed common ground comes as the trial tested the institutional boundaries of the Senate and strained across-the-aisle friendships, sparking partisan tensions in a chamber that has become increasingly majoritarian in recent years.
The fallout from the trial is still dominating Washington, with a days-long spat between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and President Trumpgrabbing headlines and both sides digging in for the year’s biggest political battle: the November elections.
But Sen. John Thune (S.D.), the No. 2 Republican senator, urged his colleagues to back down from the partisan warfare that has dominated Washington during the months-long drama.
“Hopefully the better angels of people will begin to emerge, and we’ll see a willingness to focus on a common agenda. … I think both sides have things they need to get done,” Thune said.
What specific piece of bipartisan legislation could move on the Senate floor, and how soon, is unclear. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is turning the chamber next week to his top priority: judicial nominations.
But that’s done little to prevent senators from creating a public sounding board of potential ideas such as infrastructure and highway bills, medical and prescription drug costs, and privacy legislation.
The impeachment trial effectively threw all legislation into limbo for weeks. The only bill the Senate has voted on so far this year was legislation in mid-January to ratify Trump’s trade deal with Mexico and Canada.
The desire to get past impeachment was, at times, palatable in the final day and immediately after the trial, when several senators, asked about the fight, all responded with a similar message: It’s time to move on. …