Republican-led Congress could tie up Biden agenda

KCRW's Left, Right & Center

KCRW

352865, News

4.2 • 4.8K Ratings

🗓️ 21 October 2022

⏱️ 50 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

With nearly three weeks until the midterm elections in November, Republicans may have a good shot at gaining the majority in both the House and Senate.

Democrats saw boosted support over the summer after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, but that enthusiasm may be waning. The tide may be turning for Republicans, despite trailing Democrats just one month ago. A New York Times-Siena College poll shows a bump in support for Republicans in recent weeks.

Plus, President Biden’s approval ratings plunged over the summer to record lows because of high gas prices and inflation, and they still haven’t completely recovered. Nearly half of likely voters say they strongly disapprove of Biden’s job performance.

Republicans only need to pick up five seats in Congress to gain the majority, and just one for control of the Senate. So, what would the first changes a Republican-controlled Congress would make? And how would a conservative legislative branch work with Biden on matters like abortion, Russia’s war against Ukraine, or a possible recession?

Host David Greene discusses with Mo Elleithee, executive director of Georgetown University’s Institute of Politics and Public Service, on the left; and Sarah Isgur, staff writer at The Dispatch, on the right.

Plus, the new Supreme Court session is in full swing, but many Americans are questioning if the highest court has become too politicized. Special guest Dahlia Lithwick, senior editor at Slate and author of “Lady Justice: Women, The Law and the Battle to Save America,” weighs in on judicial gender parity, and why she’s worried about an uprising among those in the legal profession.

Despite President Biden’s promise to unify the country, our politics seem more divisive than ever. Are universities to blame? And is an overrepresentation of liberals in higher education changing our political sphere?

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, this is David Green. I'm the co-founder of Fearless Media and your host here on Left
0:06.0	Right and Center. This is the show where we take on all of the political issues, even
0:10.2	the complicated ones that might be dividing your family these days.
0:13.8	Well, some good news for Republicans with less than three weeks until the midterm elections.
0:18.7	A recent New York Times, CNN College poll shows a bump in support for the GOP overall. More
0:25.0	likely voters now say they will support a Republican candidate in House and Senate races over
0:29.9	a Democrat. Democrats had been leading in this poll just weeks ago. Things like inflation,
0:35.0	high gas prices, overall worries about the economy seem to be pulling some independent voters
0:39.9	away from the Democrats. If Democrats got an initial surge in support after Roe versus Wade
0:45.4	was overturned, that might be fading now. And also, President Biden's low approval numbers
0:50.4	are not helping his party, it seems. 45% of likely voters said they strongly disapprove of the
0:56.2	job Biden is doing. So what would a Republican House and maybe even Senate look like? Well, of
1:01.6	course, politicians love to claim that whatever election they are running for is the most consequential
1:06.6	election of our lifetime. Is that really true this time? Well, let's bring in our Left Right
1:10.9	and Center panel. I am your host at the center on the left. We are rejoined by Moe Alaythi. He's
1:16.2	the executive director at Georgetown University's Institute of Politics and Public Service. He also
1:20.7	served as communications director for the Democratic National Committee and as an advisor to Hillary
1:25.4	Clinton, Moe, welcome back. Thanks for having me back. And we have Sarah Isger back with a staff
1:30.6	writer at the dispatch. She's a lawyer and was the spokesperson at the Department of Justice
1:34.3	under President Trump. How are you Sarah? Great to be here. All right, so Republicans need to pick up
1:41.2	five seats in the House and it's looking, you know, increasingly likely that's going to happen.
1:46.5	Just one more seat they would need to take control of the Senate. So if one or both of those things
	...

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