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Call it neopopulism: a bipartisan attitude that mistrusts the free-market ethos instead of embracing it.
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By David Leonhardt
David Leonhardt, a senior writer at The Times, has been based in Washington since 2008.
It may be the most discussed fact about American politics today: The country is deeply polarized. The Republican Party has moved to the right by many measures, and the Democratic Party has moved to the left. Each party sees the other as an existential threat. One consequence of this polarization, politicians and pundits often say, is gridlock in Washington.
But in a country that is supposed to have a gridlocked federal government, the past four years are hard to explain. These years have been arguably the most productive period of Washington bipartisanship in decades.
During the Covid pandemic, Democrats and Republicans in Congress came together to pass emergency responses. Under President Biden, bipartisan majorities have passed major laws on infrastructure and semiconductor chips, as well as laws on veterans’ health, gun violence, the Postal Service, the aviation system, same-sex marriage, anti-Asian hate crimes and the electoral process. On trade, the Biden administration has kept some of the Trump administration’s signature policies and even expanded them.
The trend has continued over the past month, first with the passage of a bipartisan bill to aid Ukraine and other allies and to force a sale of TikTok by its Chinese owner. After the bill’s passage, far-right House Republicans tried to oust Speaker Mike Johnson because he did not block it — and House Democrats voted to save Johnson’s job. There is no precedent for House members of one party to rescue a speaker from the other. Last week, the House advanced another bipartisan bill, on disaster relief, using a rare procedural technique to get around party-line votes.
This flurry of bipartisanship may be surprising, but it is not an accident. It has depended on the emergence of a new form of American centrism.
The very notion of centrism is anathema to many progressives and conservatives, conjuring a mushy moderation. But the new centrism is not always so moderate. Forcing the sale of a popular social app is not exactly timid, nor is confronting China and Russia. The bills to rebuild American infrastructure and strengthen the domestic semiconductor industry are ambitious economic policies.
Party breakdown on some major votes during Biden's presidency
A chart shows congressional votes by party for several major bills that have had bipartisan support during Biden’s presidency in the House and Senate. These include blocking the motion to remove Mike Johnson as speaker, the foreign aid and forced TikTok sale package, the infrastructure bill and the CHIPS and Science Act.
House
Block motion to remove Mike Johnson
as speaker
May 8, 2024
163 Dem.
196 Rep.
Support
Oppose
32
11
Foreign aid bills and forced TikTok sale April 20, 2024
Ukraine aid
210
101
Support
Oppose
112
Israel aid
173
193
Support
37
21
Oppose
Taiwan aid
Support
207
178
34
Oppose
TikTok sale
Support
174
186
Oppose
33
25
SENATE
Infrastructure bill Aug. 10, 2021
Support
19 Rep., 2 Ind.
48
30
Oppose
CHIPS and Science Act July 27, 2022
46
17 Rep., 1 Ind.
Support
32
1 Ind.
Oppose
House
Block motion to remove Mike Johnson as speaker May 8, 2024
Support
163 Democrats
196 Republicans
Oppose
32
11
Foreign aid bills and forced TikTok sale April 20, 2024
Support
210
101
Ukraine aid
Oppose
112
Support
Israel aid
173
193
Oppose
37
21
Support
207
178
Taiwan aid
34
Oppose
Support
TikTok Sale
174
186
Oppose
33
25
SENATE
Infrastructure bill Aug. 10, 2021
Support
19
2 Independents
48
Oppose
30
CHIPS and Science Act July 27, 2022
Support
46
17
1 Ind.
Oppose
32
1 Ind.
Social and economic views of registered voters
Each dot is one registered voter in a survey, plotted by their social and economic views.
A chart plots 1,020 registered voters, who responded to a survey by Echelon Insights in June 2023, on a matrix of social and economic views. Each voter is represented by one dot, color-coded by who they voted for in the 2020 presidential election. Most voters who voted for Trump are both socially and fiscally conservative; most who voted for Biden are social and fiscally liberal. Vote patterns in the other two quadrants are more mixed.
Trump
Other candidate
unsure, or didn’t vote
2020 vote
Biden
More
socially
conservative
More
socially
liberal
More fiscally
liberal
More fiscally
conservative
Trump
Other candidate, unsure or didn’t vote
Biden
2020 vote
More
socially
conservative
More
socially
liberal
More fiscally conservative
More fiscally liberal
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