Trump, Dems face thorny times ahead
WASHINGTON — Suddenly facing life under divided government, President Donald Trump and congressional leaders talked bipartisanship Wednesday but then bluntly previewed the fault lines to come. Trump threatened to go after House Democrats who try to investigate him, while Rep. Nancy Pelosi said her party would be “a check and balance” against the White House.
The day after midterm elections reset Washington, Trump took a victory lap at a raucous news conference, celebrating Republican Senate wins but distancing himself from the GOP’s loss of the House. He said he was interested in working with House Democrats but was ready to respond if he felt he was being ill-treated.
As long as Republicans have controlled both houses of Congress, Democrats have been hampered in pursuing any significant probes of Trump and his administration, and he made it clear he expects the Senate to follow that course.
“They can play that game,” he said of possible House Democratic investigations, “but we can play it better, because we have a thing called the United States Senate.”
On Capitol Hill, Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell said Democrats must decide how much “harassment” they want to pursue against Trump, while suggesting there could be limited opportunities to work across the aisle.
And Pelosi, who is expected to run for a second stint as speaker when Democrats take the House majority in January, said the party has “a responsibility to seek common ground where we can.” But she added, “Where we cannot, we must stand our ground.”
On legislative prospects, Trump said he could potentially work with Democrats on issues such as taxes, infrastructure and health care, saying it “really could be a beautiful, bipartisan type of situation.”
And Pelosi, during a news conference that was delayed because of Trump’s lengthy remarks, said she she welcomed the chance work with Trump.
“We’d like to work together so our legislation will be bipartisan,” she said.
Some House Democrats have threatened to use the subpoena power they will gain in January to investigate Trump and administration actions.
But, he warned, he will respond in kind and government will suffer.