Partisanship's pull stays strong as Biden seeks bolder path: The Note

Congress in recent days was consumed with party-line votes.

April 23, 2021, 6:00 AM

The TAKE with Rick Klein

President Joe Biden is poised to go bigger and bolder. It's not clear that Congress is ready to go there with him.

This week brought rumblings of bipartisan possibilities on issues as disparate as immigration, infrastructure and -- in the wake of the Derek Chauvin verdict -- police reform. The White House has pronounced itself open for deal-making.

But there are multiple reasons to think that any such discussions are less than meet the eye. At a moment that Biden is promising pushes that go farther -- on taxes, spending, climate, health care and more -- it's far from clear that any Republican buy-in is available to him.

The GOP's infrastructure counter-proposal came in at a quarter of Biden's price tag and with a commitment to preserve the entirety of the Trump tax cuts. Biden's international climate summit was met with Republican howls about Democratic job-killing, the loss of American competitiveness and warnings of the "Green New Deal" under a different name.

President Joe Biden speaks during a virtual climate summit on April 22, 2021.
Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images

Congress in recent days was consumed with party-line votes to censure a Democratic House member -- all Republicans voted for it, and no Democrats did -- and establish statehood for the District of Columbia -- all House Democrats voted for it and no Republicans did. Lawmakers still can't even agree on the framework for a commission investigating the Jan. 6 riots.

It's true that many Biden priorities have bipartisan support in public polling, just as it's true that the Republican Party is deeply divided about its future course. But those facts haven't kept the opposition party from opposing most everything Biden is trying to do -- with few prospects of that changing for now.

The RUNDOWN with Averi Harper

Civil rights leaders, politicians, family and friends gathered Thursday to mourn the death of Daunte Wright after the 20-year-old was shot and killed by a police officer in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota.

The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act was top of mind at Wright's funeral with the Rev. Al Sharpton calling for its passage during the eulogy, earning him a standing ovation.

"If you believe in justice, it's time for the federal government to reflect the will of the people," said Sharpton.

The Rev. Al Sharpton, center, raises his fist during the funeral of Daunte Wright at the Shiloh Temple International Ministries in Minneapolis on April 22, 2021.
Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty Images

According to the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll, 60% of Americans said the country should do more to hold police accountable for mistreatment of Black people and 42% of the respondents said Biden is doing too little in trying to reform police practices.

Negotiations on police reform are moving with new fervor on Capitol Hill in the wake of Chauvin's murder conviction. Rep. Karen Bass, D-Calif., is one of the authors of the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act and is taking a leading role in those negotiations. In an interview with ABC's "The View" Thursday, Bass cited the "good will" of Democrats and Republicans working together on the issue.

The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act passed the House last month. It remains to be seen if negotiations will garner enough Republican support to pass the Senate.

The TIP with Alisa Wiersema

The budget debate in Texas overlapped into the ongoing debate over the state's voting legislation Thursday. State Rep. Briscoe Caine -- one of the authors of H.B. 6 which addresses "election integrity and preservation" -- proposed a budget amendment to financially penalize entities that "publicly threatened any adverse action" against Texas in their opposition to election legislation introduced between 2020 and 2022.

The proposal was not added to the budget, but the move signaled an unwillingness from the state GOP to step back from officials' initial reaction to corporations weighing in. Companies like American Airlines and Dell criticized bills that voting rights advocates said would make it harder for Texans of color to vote.

People opposed to Texas voter bills HB6 and SB7 hold signs during a news conference hosted by Texas Rising Action on the steps of the State Capitol on April 21, 2021, in Austin, Texas.
Eric Gay/AP

Caine's proposal also appeared to be at odds with what Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said earlier this month when asked if the companies who were speaking out against the legislation should lose financial incentives. "This is not a quid pro, we don't punish people because they disagree with us," Patrick said at the time.

Over the last several weeks, the state's top Republicans reiterated their opposition to corporate giants weighing in on the progression of the bills, as many companies continue to dig in on their positions against the legislation. The standoff could reach a head when the House takes up advancing H.B. 6 as early as next week.

ONE MORE THING

Confidence that police in the United States are adequately trained to avoid using excessive force reached a new low in the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll, and 60% of Americans say the country should do more to hold police accountable for mistreatment of Black people.

THE PLAYLIST

ABC News' "Start Here" podcast. Friday morning’s episode features a conversation with Brown University’s Dr. Ashish Jha, who tells us what he’s looking for as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention meets to discuss the Johnson & Johnson vaccine pause on Friday. ABC News’ Stephanie Ebbs examines President Joe Biden’s plan to cut carbon emissions in half by 2030. And ABC News Legal Analyst Kate Shaw tells us about a Supreme Court ruling concerning life sentences for juveniles. http://apple.co/2HPocUL

FiveThirtyEight's Politics Podcast. In 2020, the number of Americans who said they belonged to a church, mosque or synagogue fell below a majority for the first time since Gallup began tracking this, according to a recent survey. About 20 years ago, 70% of Americans belonged to one of those houses of worship. Today, it’s 47%. While that doesn’t mean a majority of Americans are areligious, the share of religiously unaffiliated Americans has also been increasing and is now more in line with the share of evangelicals or Catholics. Galen Druke and Perry Bacon Jr. speak with political scientist and pastor Ryan Burge about how these trends are shaping our society and politics. https://53eig.ht/3dI08l2

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW THIS WEEKEND

  • Rep. Cori Bush, D-Mo., appears on ABC's "The View."
  • President Joe Biden delivers remarks and participates in the virtual Leaders Summit on Climate at 9:15 a.m. He receives the president's daily brief at 11 a.m. and the weekly economic briefing at 1:45 p.m. at 2:45 p.m., Biden participates in a virtual U.S. Department of Defense Senior Leaders Conference.
  • Second gentleman Douglas Emhoff and Interior Secretary Deb Haaland hold a virtual event at 9:30 a.m. to announce 16 new listings on the National Park Service National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Program.
  • The White House COVID-19 Response Team and public health officials hold a briefing at 11 a.m.
  • White House press secretary Jen Psaki and the interior secretary hold a briefing at 11:30 a.m.
  • Vice President Kamala Harris travels to New Hampshire and holds a listening session on the American Jobs Plan's proposed investment in broadband at 11:55 at the New Hampshire Electric Cooperative in Plymouth. She tours the IBEW Local 490 with apprentices and staff in Concord at 2 p.m. and delivers remarks on the plan's proposed investment in workforce development and infrastructure at 2:40 p.m.
  • First lady Jill Biden attends a listening session with students from across the Navajo Nation at Hunters Point Board School in St. Michaels, Arizona, at 9:30 a.m. MT. She then visits a vaccination site.
  • Download the ABC News app and select "The Note" as an item of interest to receive the day's sharpest political analysis.

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