Politics

New Low in Relations Between Obama, Congressional GOP

Published

11 years ago

March 11, 2015

In this March 3, 2015, file photo, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gestures as he speaks before a joint meeting of Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)

JULIE PACE, Associated Press
ERICA WERNER, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Relations between President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans have hit a new low.

There has been little direct communication between Obama and the GOP leadership on Capitol Hill since Republicans took full control of Congress in January. Obama has threatened to veto more than a dozen Republican-backed bills. And House Speaker John Boehner infuriated the White House by inviting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address Congress without consulting the administration first.

But the dispute over Obama’s high-stakes nuclear negotiations with Iran has put the relationship perhaps beyond repair.

The president and his advisers are seething over Republican efforts to undermine the sensitive discussions with Iran, most recently by sending an “open letter” to the country’s leaders warning that any nuclear deal could expire the day Obama walks out of the Oval Office. “I cannot recall another instance in which senators wrote directly to advise another country — much less a longtime foreign adversary — that the president does not have the constitutional authority to reach a meaningful understanding with them,” Vice President Joe Biden, who spent nearly four decades in the Senate, said in an unusually harsh statement.

For their part, Republican lawmakers call their outreach to a hostile nation a reasonable response to an administration they say has spurned Congress and ignored its prerogatives at every turn. It’s the starkest sign yet that Republicans see an adversary, not a potential partner, in Obama’s White House — even on foreign policy issues where partisan differences have traditionally been somewhat muted.

“The mutual efforts to work together under this administration have just disappeared, so I think there’s a sense now that extraordinary things occasionally need to happen to be sure that the president understands how strongly the Congress feels,” said Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo.

The dismal state of the relationship has largely sunk the slim prospects for bipartisan cooperation in Obama’s final two years in office, with one exception being work on international trade agreements that the White House and Republicans have long supported. And with Obama firmly eying his legacy, even his own advisers have conceded that a president who took office vowing to bridge partisan divides is virtually powerless to influence his political opponents.

“We don’t have the ability to communicate with them,” Dan Pfeiffer, Obama’s recently departed senior adviser, said in an interview with New York magazine. “They are talking to people who agree with them, they are listening to news outlets that reinforce that point of view, and the president is probably the person with the least ability to break into that because of the partisan bias there.”

Not surprisingly, each side blames the other for letting things get so bad.

To hear Republicans tell it, Obama has eroded their trust by going around Congress time and again with executive actions, particularly on health care and immigration, where he took steps as far back as 2012 to extend deportation stays and work permits to hundreds of thousands of younger immigrants in this country illegally.

Instead of easing up on the strategy after Democrats took a beating in the November midterm elections, Obama doubled down with a raft of new immigration directives affecting millions more immigrants.

At the same time, Republicans complain he has made few overtures to work with them since the election. The president and GOP leaders last met face-to-face on Jan. 13 during a meeting at the White House, and Boehner and Obama have not spoken since a phone call later that month. There has been scant contact between the president and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and a so-called “bourbon summit” that the president and majority leader had lightheartedly talked about arranging is on neither party’s calendar.

“They don’t want to work with us, they don’t want to do anything with us,” said Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah. “I mean, come on. I can’t imagine Bill Clinton or Ronald Reagan or George Herbert Walker Bush doing some of the things that they’re doing that make all of these things more difficult.”

The White House and Democrats blame Republicans, arguing they can’t find a way to compromise because of the outsize sway held by the most conservative, tea party-backed elements of the party. Boehner has had repeated difficulties controlling this group of lawmakers, finally passing a bill to fund the Homeland Security Department last week only with Democratic help. Democrats increasingly question whether Republicans treat Obama’s administration with the deference due to the presidency. The Iran letter was the most visible example, but some Democrats also chafed when McConnell penned an opinion piece urging states to ignore Obama administration climate rules.

The dynamic of a lame-duck president clashing with Congress on his way out of the door is not a new one. President George W. Bush struggled over Iraq troop levels and pushed unsuccessfully to pass an immigration bill. President Bill Clinton faced impeachment proceedings.

Republicans and White House officials agree they must find some way to get along well enough in coming months to perform the basic functions of government, such as raising the borrowing limit and extending the highway trust fund. Aside from potentially trade, there is little hope of bigger deals on taxes or anything else.

Yet even after a government shutdown and years of intense disputes over spending, health care and immigration, White House officials see Republicans’ aggressive efforts to insert themselves in the Iran negotiations as the opening of a new front in the fight between the parties.

“It certainly represents a new area that has previously been protected from such outright partisanship,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest said. “They’ve clearly moved into new territory.”

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Associated Press writers Andrew Taylor and Stephen Ohlemacher contributed to this report.

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2025 in Review: Seven Questions for Assemblymember Lori Wilson — Advocate for Equity, the Environment, and More

Her rise has also included several historic firsts: she is the only Black woman ever appointed to lead the influential Assembly Transportation Committee, and the first freshman legislator elected Chair of the California Legislative Black Caucus. She has also been a vocal advocate for vulnerable communities, becoming the first California legislator to publicly discuss being the parent of a transgender child — an act of visibility that has helped advanced representation at a time when political tensions related to social issues and culture have intensified.

Published

2 days ago

December 29, 2025

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Assemblymember Lori D. Wilson (D-Suisun City). File photo.

By Edward Henderson, California Black Media

Assemblymember Lori D. Wilson (D-Suisun City) joined the California Legislature in 2022 after making history as Solano County’s first Black female mayor, bringing with her a track record of fiscal discipline, community investment, and inclusive leadership.

She represents the state’s 11th Assembly District, which spans Solano County and portions of Contra Costa and Sacramento Counties.

California Black Media spoke with Wilson about her successes and disappointments this year and her outlook for 2026.

What stands out as your most important achievement this year?

Getting SB 237 passed in the Assembly. I had the opportunity to co-lead a diverse workgroup of colleagues, spanning a wide range of ideological perspectives on environmental issues.

How did your leadership contribute to improving the lives of Black Californians this year?

The Black Caucus concentrated on the Road to Repair package and prioritized passing a crucial bill that remained incomplete during my time as chair, which establishes a process for identifying descendants of enslaved people for benefit eligibility.

What frustrated you the most this year?

The lack of progress made on getting Prop 4 funds allocated to socially disadvantaged farmers. This delay has real consequences. These farmers have been waiting for essential support that was promised. Watching the process stall, despite the clear need and clear intent of the voters, has been deeply frustrating and reinforces how much work remains to make our systems more responsive and equitable.

What inspired you the most this year?

The resilience of Californians persists despite the unprecedented attacks from the federal government. Watching people stay engaged, hopeful, and determined reminded me why this work matters and why we must continue to protect the rights of every community in our state.

What is one lesson you learned this year that will inform your decision-making next year?

As a legislator, I have the authority to demand answers to my questions — and accept nothing less. That clarity has strengthened my approach to oversight and accountability.

In one word, what is the biggest challenge Black Californians are facing currently?

Affordability and access to quality educational opportunities.

What is the goal you want to achieve most in 2026?

Advance my legislative agenda despite a complex budget environment. The needs across our communities are real, and even in a tight fiscal year, I’m committed to moving forward policies that strengthen safety, expand opportunity, and improve quality of life for the people I represent.

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2025 in Review: Seven Questions for Assemblymember Tina McKinnor, Champion of Reparations, Housing and Workers’ Rights

In 2025, McKinnor pushed forward legislation on renters’ protections, re-entry programs, reparations legislation, and efforts to support Inglewood Unified School District. She spoke with California Black Media about the past year and her work. Here are her responses.

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Assemblymember Tina McKinnor (D-Inglewood). File photo.

By Joe W. Bowers Jr., California Black Media

Assemblymember Tina McKinnor (D-Inglewood) represents

California’s 61st Assembly District.

As a member of the California Legislative Black Caucus (CLBC),

McKinnor was elected in 2022. She chairs the Los Angeles County Legislative Delegation and leads the Assembly Public Employment and Retirement Committee. McKinnor also served as a civic engagement director, managed political campaigns, and worked as chief of staff for former Assemblymembers Steven Bradford and Autumn Burke.

Looking back on 2025, what do you see as your biggest win?

Assembly Bill (AB) 628. If rent is $3,000, people should at least have a stove and a refrigerator. It’s ridiculous that people were renting without basic appliances.

I’m also proud that I was able to secure $8.4 million in the state budget for people coming home from incarceration. That includes the Homecoming Project, the menopause program for incarcerated women, and the Justice Leaders Program.

How did your leadership help make life better for Black Californians this year?

After the Eaton Fire, I pushed to get the same kind of support for affected areas that wealthier regions get after disasters.

I also did a lot of work building political power— establishing the Black Legacy PAC and California for All of Us PAC so we could support Black candidates and educate voters. We also called voters to make sure they understood Prop 50.

People need to understand this: there are only 12 Black legislators in the Capitol. Folks act like we can just walk in and pass reparations, but that’s not how it works.

What frustrated you most this year?

The governor did not have the political will to sign these bills: AB 57 and AB 62. They both passed overwhelmingly in the Assembly and the Senate. We did the work. The only person who didn’t have the political will to sign them was the governor.

The public needs to ask the governor why he didn’t sign the bills. We can’t keep letting people off the hook. He has to answer.

I also introduced AB 51 — the bill to eliminate interest payments on Inglewood Unified School District’s long-standing state loan — held in the Appropriations Committee. That was frustrating,

What inspired you most in 2025?

The civil rights trip to Alabama was life changing. We visited the Legacy Museum and the National Memorial for Peace and Justice. We took members of the Black, Latino, Jewish, and API caucuses with us. It changed all of us.

People aren’t always against us — they just don’t know our history.

What’s one lesson from 2025 that will shape how you approach decisions next year?

The legislative trip to Norway taught me that collaboration matters. Government, labor, and industry sit down together there. They don’t make villains. Everybody doesn’t get everything they want, but they solve problems.

What’s the biggest challenge facing Black Californians in one word?

Inequity. It shows up in housing, wealth, stress – all these things.

What’s the number one goal you want to accomplish in 2026?

Bringing back AB 57 and AB 62, and securing money for the Inglewood Unified loan interest forgiveness.

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2025 in Review: Seven Questions for Sen. Laura Richardson, Who Made Legislative History This Year

Before elected office, she served as a legislative staffer at the local, state, and federal levels and built a strong academic foundation, earning a political science degree from UCLA and an MBA from USC.

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Sen. Laura Richardson (D-San Pedro). File photo.

By Edward Henderson, California Black Media

Elected in November 2024 to represent California’s 35th Senate District, Sen. Laura Richardson (D-San Pedro) brings decades of experience to her role.

Richardson says she remains deeply committed to empowering residents, strengthening neighborhoods, and supporting the local economy.

For example, SB 748, a bill she authored that Gov. Newsom signed into law this year, allows cities to use existing homelessness funds to clear unsafe RV encampments, and another measure aimed at expanding provider access for Medi-Cal patients.

California Black Media (CBM) spoke with Richardson about her successes and disappointments over the past year and her plans for 2026.

What stands out as your most important achievement this year?

Being number one in getting the most bills signed by a freshman senator. Our team and staff were able to effectively move legislation through committees in both the Senate and Assembly and gain the governor’s support.

How did your leadership contribute to improving the lives of Black Californians?

Securing overall agency support from the governor to begin the work of understanding and documenting descendants of slavery. The discussion around “40 acres and a mule” will be ongoing for many years, but moving forward with creating an agency—although not fully funded—was significant. They were baby steps, but they were steps.

What frustrated you the most this year?

The administration. Even though federal and state roles differ, California has its own values and priorities. When the federal government makes cuts that impact Californians, the state legislature feels the need to backfill to protect people. It was challenging and frustrating.

What inspired you the most this year?

SB 237, which I was a joint principal author on, inspired me. It dealt with fuel stability. Two refineries closed, and several others are barely hanging on. Even as we work toward zero emissions, we still need a certain amount of fuel. SB 237 opened up some of the fuel potential in Kern County, and there’s a pipeline from Kern County down to my district.

What is one lesson you learned this year that will inform your decision-making next year?

Engage the governor’s staff earlier. I’m going to push to involve the governor’s legislative staff sooner.

In one word, what is the biggest challenge Black Californians are facing right now?

Affordability. No matter how much you make, everything is more expensive—gas, groceries, insurance, mortgages. Costs keep rising while salaries don’t.

What is the goal you want to achieve most in 2026?

Creating a process for dealing with abandoned cemeteries.

The last piece—not specific to this year but building toward the future—is figuring out how people and businesses in the district and in California can participate in major events like the Olympics, FIFA, and the Super Bowl, all of which are taking place here.