Rep. Josh Gottheimer said that no matter how the Democrats perform in this year’s midterm elections, the party must stay focused on bipartisan efforts that have a higher likelihood of getting passed into law.
“If we win the Senate, you’re still not going to have 60 votes,” Gottheimer told NOTUS’ Reese Gorman in the latest episode of the On NOTUS podcast. “So it means we’re going to have to continue to talk to each other, and it’s really important, including the White House.”
“Despite the fact that I’m not thrilled with the White House, usually on a daily basis, we’ve still got to engage and talk to them and to legislate, we’ve got to continue doing exactly what I do now every day, which is actually sitting down, talking, working on stuff and figuring out where we can agree,” Gottheimer added.
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Gottheimer serves as a vice chair of the Problem Solvers Caucus, a 45-member bipartisan caucus that works on common-ground policy fixes. He was crucial in negotiating across the aisle to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies during last year’s government shutdown.
Gottheimer said this bipartisan focus has guided his nine years in Congress representing New Jersey.
“I’m not here to be in the entertainment business,” Gottheimer said. “I’m here to actually work and to legislate. And that’s the job.”
Congress returned last week from a two-week hiatus to multiple ethics and sexual misconduct allegations against its members.
These allegations have resulted in three House members resigning: Democrats Eric Swalwell and Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, and Republican Tony Gonzales. Additionally, Republican Rep. Cory Mills has faced threats of expulsion following allegations of misconduct. The podcast episode was taped prior to Cherfilus-McCormick’s resignation announcement this week. Gottheimer called the allegations against Mills and Cherfilus-McCormick “incredibly serious” and said “if ultimately that the facts bear out, they shouldn’t be here.”
“We need to do everything we can to make sure that we not only keep this institution a place where the American people have complete faith in, but also to make sure we hold our members accountable and that staff at every level feel this is a safe place for them,” he added.
On NOTUS is a weekly podcast in which NOTUS reporters talk to lawmakers about how they got to Washington and what motivates them. You can download or listen here.
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