Bipartisanship: AOC Finds Common Ground with Ben Carson, Ted Cruz

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) found rare common ground with two conservative Republicans on Thursday, agreeing with Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Ben Carson on adopting a more lenient policy toward residents in legal trouble, and with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) on banning members of Congress from lobbying.

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Secretary Carson agreed to consider Ocasio-Cortez’s suggestion to reform the “one strike” rule, under which tenants in public housing are removed if they violate the law one time.

That agreement followed Carson’s positive responses to the suggestion when Ocasio-Cortez asked him about the idea during hearings in the House earlier this month.

Ironically, the “one strike” rule was adopted during President Bill Clinton’s administration, under HUD Secretary Andrew Cuomo, who is now governor of New York.

Cruz — like other conservative, Tea Party-era Republicans — has long favored reforms that would block the “revolving door” between the federal government and K Street.

Ocasio-Cortez tweeted her own thoughts on the subject Thursday, suggesting a “long wait period” for former members of Congress:

Cruz seized the opportunity to agree with her, offering a lifetime ban instead:

Ocasio-Cortez responded, and from there the two swiftly reached an agreement to work together on legislation:

The agreement was a far cry from Ocasio-Cortez’s initial forays on Capitol Hill, when she led a group of protesters to the office of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY).

Update: Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI) joined Cruz in supporting the idea, as did Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX), meaning there would be a bipartisan team in each of the two houses of Congress to support a bill restricting lobbying after office:

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. He is also the co-author of How Trump Won: The Inside Story of a Revolution, which is available from Regnery. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.