Utah Sen. Mitt Romney urged President Joe Biden on Thursday to “live up to” the bipartisan rhetoric he used at his inauguration.
Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) called out Biden via social media on Thursday afternoon, suggesting the 46th POTUS should reach across the proverbial aisle despite the Democrats’ current House majority.
“A Senate evenly split between both parties and a bare Democratic House majority are hardly a mandate to ‘go it alone,'” Romney wrote on Twitter. “The President should live up to the bipartisanship he preached in his inaugural address.”
Democrats currently control Congress with a slender 219-211 majority. The Senate is split down the middle with 50 on either side but is effectively in favor of Democrats with Vice President Kamala Harris as the tie-breaking vote.
Despite his desire to find bipartisan support, White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain said Thursday the administration could push Biden’s infrastructure plan through the budget reconciliation process in the same manner as the $1.9 trillion “American Rescue Plan” — even without Republican votes.
The messaging hollows Biden’s 2020 campaign platform, in which he emphasized American unity and bipartisan cooperation. Now in office, agreement from both sides seems to have diminishing priority.
Romney’s words are likely to fall on deaf ears; Democrats currently have little concrete reason to give ground, and conservative support for Romney has eroded after his public opposition of former President Donald Trump. Romney is the sole Republican to have voted against Trump regarding the impeachment process both times.