President Biden promised to reach across the aisle to work with GOP lawmakers, but Republican senators say that since he took office, he won’t give them the time of day.
Sen. John Cornyn of Texas told The Washington Times he has not spoken to Mr. Biden in a year and that the president has not been personally engaged with the GOP for a long time.
He said it isn’t how presidents normally behave.
“It’s indicative of the fact he’s given up on working with Congress on a bipartisan basis, and he’s relegated to just signing executive orders,” Mr. Cornyn said.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, South Carolina Republican, said he has spoken to the president twice since Mr. Biden’s inauguration in January 2021.
“The outreach is pretty limited. I’ve been surprised by that. President Biden running his shop the way he wants,” Mr. Graham said. “I’m not complaining, but he really has almost no interaction” with Republicans.
He said that former President Trump was better engaged with Democrats than Mr. Biden is with Republicans in the Senate.
“I just think that model pays off,” he said.
Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana said he had not talked to the president in almost two years.
“I’ve talked to him one-on-one once. He’s the president. That’s his call,” he said. “Obviously, Trump was very engaged with both Democrats and Republicans.”
White House officials don’t typically announce the majority of Mr. Biden’s conversations with lawmakers. People familiar with the president’s habits insist that he frequently talks by phone with Republican senators.
The Democrats’ 51-seat majority allows them to control the floor and the committees. Mr. Biden hasn’t needed the chamber’s Republicans to pass major legislation since 19 of them broke ranks to help pass the infrastructure bill in Aug. 2021.
The last time Mr. Biden huddled with Republicans at the White House was in May when House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell joined him to negotiate a deal to raise the debt limit.
Mr. McConnell also attended an event in his home state Kentucky with Mr. Biden in January.
That’s been the most prominent political interaction between Mr. Biden and Senate Republicans. Mr. McConnell’s office did not respond to inquiries about whether he had regular calls with the president.
“They’ve known each other forever,” Mr. Cornyn said, speculating there could be some phone calls. “But, obviously, it’s not collaborative, shall I put it that way.”
Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri said he has never spoken to Mr. Biden.
“I’ve never met him. I recognize him. But I’ve never met him,” he said.
Mr. Trump, during his time in the White House, met with a handful of red-state Senate Democrats up for reelection in 2018 when then-Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy announced his retirement.
Not all of his encounters with Democratic lawmakers at the White House went smoothly, Democrats contend.
A 2018 televised meeting Mr. Trump held with Senate Democratic leader Charles E. Schumer of New York and House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of California about funding for the border wall descended into a 17-minute shouting match.
“Donald Trump didn’t do anything to make the relationship good,” Sen. Jon Tester, Montana Democrat, said.
• Kerry Picket can be reached at kpicket@washingtontimes.com.
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