Rep. Ami Bera (D-Calif.) said on Monday he is ready to meet Republicans “at the 50-yard-line” and even at “the 40-yard-line” due to them being “in the majority.”
“So, the American public clearly wants more secure borders,” Bera told NewsNation’s Blake Burman on “The Hill.” “Great. Let’s meet at the 50-yard-line. I’d even say, since they’re in the majority, we’ll go [to the] 40-yard-line.”
President elect-Trump’s 2024 election victory and impending return to the White House has rattled Democrats, who also lost control of the Senate in elections last year and will remain in the minority in the House in the 119th Congress.
There have been ongoing conversations in the Democratic Party about its candidates’ performances at the polls this year, with some centrists saying the party went too left and liberals saying it didn’t go left enough.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said in a Fox News interview aired last month that his party’s new agenda will be “very aggressive beginning right out of the gate.” During the interview, anchor Bret Baier asked Johnson about a report from The New York Times about the Speaker soon having to deal with a slim Republican majority in the lower chamber.
“Look, we’re excited about this. We’ve demonstrated already that we can govern with a small majority,” Johnson responded. “And, I’m very confident that we can check the boxes and get this agenda done, and [it’ll be] very aggressive beginning right out of the gate.”
Bera said in his appearance on “The Hill” on Monday that he doesn’t believe his “entire caucus is gonna say, ‘Hey, let’s work with Republicans.’”
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