Bipartisanship is important to Joe Biden – whether he likes it or not

With approval ratings that few would envy, particularly on the economy, the US president needs some more legislative wins, writes Chris Stevenson

Biden at the funeral of Bob Dole this week (AP)

In the first late-night show appearance of his presidency, Joe Biden clearly had bipartisanship on his mind. He told Jimmy Fallon that he was late to the taping “because I did Bob Dole's eulogy”. He said of the Republican stalwart: “He asked me in his deathbed, whether I would do it – we were friends, we disagreed, but we were friends.”

Biden said cordial relations with Republicans were made “awful hard” by some parts of the GOP, not least what he called the “big lie” – former president Donald Trump’s false claims around the 2020 presidential election results. “QAnon and the extreme elements of the Republican Party and what, Donald Trump keeps sort of, seems to me feeding the, you know what, the big lie, it makes it awful hard,” Biden said.

While Democrats control the House of Representatives, the Senate is split 50-50 (with ties to be broken by the vice-president, Kamala Harris) and Biden seems to be aware that gridlock in Congress will not play well for his administration when they are trying to prove what good they can do for the nation during his first time. Biden talked up his administration’s bipartisan infrastructure bill which he said is “going to change the quality of life for an awful lot of people around the country”.

“Well, you know, we used to be the number one, have the best infrastructure in the world – highways, bridges, the whole works... and now we rank number 13 in the world, and we just... that has a lot to do with quality of life,” he said.

The Senate also passed a bill in recent days that will enable Congress to lift the US debt ceiling, in a 59-35 vote. The legislation won the support of 10 Republicans and every Democrat in attendance – no mean feat.

However, the “Build Back Better” bill, which includes provisions for Covid-19 relief and social services among other elements, is facing a tougher ride in the Senate. “I don’t have a single Republican vote right now to pass it, and so, it’s gonna be tough, but I think we can get it done,” Biden said. “And if we don’t get it, I’m going to keep at it till we get it done.”

According to a recent CNBC All-America Survey, Biden’s overall approval rating has stabilised at a not-too-great 41 per cent. But his rating on handling the economy (37 per cent approval compared to 56 per cent disapproval) and dealing with Covid-19 (46 per cent approval to 48 per cent disapproval) both declined.

Without more legislative wins, the president will know that it could be a tough 2022 – and that is why trying to get some more cooperation between members of the two parties is important.