By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
A vice president with the United States Chamber of Commerce gives a less-than-optimistic look at Congress during a St. Joseph Chamber of Commerce event.
Ron Eidshaug, who lobbies Congress on behalf of the Chamber, says he’s not totally pessimistic about Capitol Hill and the coming divided government.
“The good news is that Republicans and Democrats are going to have to work together to get something done,” Eidshaug tells reporters afterward. “So that’s at least a cause for optimism.”
Eidshaug says divided government has some benefits.
“So, the big benefit to divided government is we’re not going to see anything like the Build Back Better, Inflation Reduction (Act), massive tax increases on the business community coming through,” according to Eidshaug. “Divided government is going to force Republicans and Democrats to come up with bipartisan solutions to solve problems for Americans, for American businesses, for American families.”
Republicans have retaken the House, while Democrats remain in control of the Senate and the White House.
Eidshaug says the slim majority in the House will present likely Speaker Kevin McCarthy of California with some problems keeping his caucus together to ensure passage of legislation.
Eidshaug says it’s a little too early to envision what the next session of Congress might be like.
“Certainly, I think the Republicans have indicated they want to be very aggressive in terms of their oversight approach, but in terms of legislation, I think we’re going to have to wait and see on some of that stuff.”