Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid slammed House Republicans on Sunday, saying his party of opposition is “obstructionism on Steroids.”
“This Congress isn’t over,” said Mr. Reid on NBC’s Meet the Press. “All I ask is for Republicans to understand what legislation is all about. It’s the art of compromise and building a consensus.”
The Nevada Democrat slammed the Tea Party, a conservative wing of the Republican Party, warning Republicans to leave Tea Party “extremism” behind and “learn what legislation is all about.”
“I would hope that they understand that everything doesn’t have to be a fight. Legislation is an art of working together, building consensus, compromise. And I hope that the Tea Party doesn’t have the influence in this next year that they had in the previous year,” said Mr. Reid.
Mr. Reid’s comments come as Congress is set to return to Washington this week, following a nearly month-long recess for the holiday season.
Recent polls continue to show the approval rating of Congress at all-time lows. Speaking Sunday, Mr. Reid singled out Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, calling on the Kentucky Republican to return to Washington in the spirit of bipartisanship.
“Mitch McConnell said his number one goal at the beginning of this Congress was to defeat President Obama, not have him reelected. And that’s how they’ve legislated. We’ve spent months on things that used to happen just matter-of-factly — raising the debt ceiling,” Mr. Reid said.
