Biden says GOP obstructionism is worse now than during Obama administration


President Biden believes that Republicans were not "nearly as obstructionist" during the Obama administration "as they are now," saying during a Wednesday press conference that when he was vice president, lawmakers from both parties could work together to "get some things done."
There were "a number of Republicans we worked closely with even back in those days," Biden said, specifically naming the late Sen. John McCain of Arizona. The difference today is "who seems to [have] a desire to work," Biden continued. "They had an agenda back in the administration when the eight years we were president and vice president. But I don't know what their agenda is now. ... What are they proposing to do about anything?"
During the Obama administration, then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) blocked the president from filling a Supreme Court seat and several federal judicial seats. Now, Republican lawmakers are keeping voting rights legislation from passing in the Senate, but there was bipartisan support for the passage of Biden's infrastructure bill.
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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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