Arkansas' all-Republican congressional delegation faces power shift, challenges in House

From left: U.S. Reps. Rick Crawford, French Hill, Bruce Westerman and Steve Womack.
From left: U.S. Reps. Rick Crawford, French Hill, Bruce Westerman and Steve Womack.

WASHINGTON -- With Democrats about to control the U.S. House and Republicans commanding the U.S. Senate, passing legislation through both chambers is going to be challenging, members of the all-Republican Arkansas congressional delegation say.

Congressional attacks on the White House would further complicate matters, several said.

"It's hard enough for us to get our bills passed when we're in the majority and [we're] sending them to the Senate," said U.S. Rep. Rick Crawford. "It will be next to impossible for anything to see daylight over there now."

The Jonesboro resident, first elected to Congress in 2010, has never served in the minority on Capitol Hill. Neither have any of the other three House members from Arkansas.

That's about to change, thanks to last week's election.

In interviews, delegation members called on Democrats and Republicans, congressmen and senators, to work together for the good of the country.

But they warned that problems may lie ahead.

[2018 ELECTION: Full Democrat-Gazette coverage of Arkansas races]

"I don't see where they're going to propose much legislation in the House that will be acceptable in the Senate, so it looks to me like it'll be a lot of gridlock," said U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman, who is from Hot Springs.

None of the lawmakers blamed President Donald Trump for the House losses.

The Nov. 6 election results, Arkansas incumbents note, were similar to other midterm votes: then-President Bill Clinton's party lost 54 seats in 1994; then-President Barack Obama's fellow Democrats lost 63 seats in 2010.

"I think in the midterms, the president's party usually loses about 30 or 32 seats in the House, so it wasn't really anything abnormal from that perspective," Westerman said.

U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton of Dardanelle made a similar point.

"Voters have long had a preference for divided government," he said. "It's not a surprise this happens in the president's midterm."

The upcoming shift in power will have consequences, U.S. Rep. French Hill of Little Rock said.

"You'll see policies change, you'll see priorities change, you'll see new committee chairs," Hill said.

The new leadership will want to "investigate all aspects of the Trump administration, from all angles, from many different committee perspectives, and they may attempt to reverse some of the policy accomplishments of the first two years of the Trump administration," Hill added.

U.S. Rep. Steve Womack of Rogers said the House should focus on fixing the nation's problems rather than attacking the executive branch.

"There is a real threat right now that the Congress could get bogged down in investigations and oversight trying to find something wrong in the Trump administration, and going after his Cabinet members and what have you," Womack said. "Frankly, I just think that is a waste of time and a misappropriation of resources, given the many other demands that we have on the country right now."

U.S. Sen. John Boozman of Rogers said both parties will need to find common ground.

"In order to get things done, it's going to require both sides cooperating, working together and then trying to come up with solutions for things that the American people care about," he said.

"Divided government is not an unusual thing at all. In fact, it's kind of the norm," Boozman said. "Just because it's divided doesn't mean that we can't be successful and have a successful Congress these next two years."

Cotton said there's bipartisan support for tackling certain issues, including immigration and infrastructure improvements.

"There is ground for cooperation," he added. "I hope that Democrats will meet us on that common ground."

The Arkansas lawmakers say efforts to oust the president would be counterproductive.

Attempting to impeach the president would be "absolutely crazy," Boozman said. "I would hope that Democrats act responsibly."

Impeachment proceedings, Womack said, "would be a fool's errand."

"It's never going to go anywhere in the Senate unless they have some tangible proof that I don't see or know about that hasn't been disclosed," he said.

Womack said he's willing to work with the new House leadership for the good of the nation.

"If they come into the 116th Congress with a genuine interest in tackling some of our difficult challenges, then I'll meet them at the table," Womack said. "If they come in with nonsense like impeachment proceedings and witch hunts and those kinds of things, then I'll fight them tooth and nail."

A Section on 11/13/2018

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