Dave Trott: Americans have lost patience with Congress’ dealmaking

Rep. Dave Trott said Thursday that the American public has lost patience with Congress’ dealmaking abilities.

“I think the Americans public have become less patient with the problem-solving ability of Congress. I am encouraged by the president’s dinners with Nancy and Chuck, hopefully he’ll include Paul and Mitch in some of those dinners. But I do applaud the president for trying to put some deals together because that’s what we’ve been sent here to do,” Mr. Trott, Michigan Republican, said on MSNBC.

He was referring to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer as well as their Republican counterparts, House Speaker Paul D. Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Mr. Trott announced last week that he would be stepping down from Congress after his term ends to spend more time with his family. He added that there were other factors in his decision including the gridlock in Washington and the cost of re-election.

“I looked at the next year and because of competitive districts and the cost of campaigns, I really thought I’d be spending every waking moment of the next year raising $2 [million] to $3 million to get re-elected, and I thought there was a better way to spend my time,” he said.

Mr. Trott represents Michigan’s 11th Congressional District. The race is now considered a tossup.

Mr. Trump hosted Mrs. Pelosi and Mr. Schumer Wednesday for dinner to discuss immigration reform and border security. He also came to an agreement with Democratic leaders last week on hurricane relief spending and extending the debt ceiling, which some Republicans were not pleased about.

“We don’t have a governing majority in Congress. We don’t have 218 reliable Republican votes in the House that the speaker can count on, and we don’t have 60 senators in the Senate. So the reality is, if we’re going to get anything done, it’s going to have to be on a bipartisan basis,” Mr. Trott explained.