Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Wednesday that he is “ready to work together in good faith” with Republicans when they take over the Senate majority next January, as GOP counterpart Mitch McConnell warned that the president must help reestablish “trust” if both sides are to get things done together.
“I am ready to work with him in good faith to make this institution function again for the American people,” Reid said of McConnell on the Senate floor, as the chamber came back into session for the first time after the midterm elections. “I saw firsthand how the tragedy of obstruction was debilitating to our system, and I have no desire to engage in that manner.”
McConnell, speaking after Reid, also pledged cooperation and said that the lame-duck session “could help set a positive tone for the work of the next Congress.”
But he warned that the burden lies with President Barack Obama to foster that tone, admonishing the president for yesterday’s announced climate deal with China and for threatening unilateral action on immigration.
“Working together requires trust,” he said. “I think President Obama has a duty to help build the trust that we all need to move forward together, not to double down on old ways of doing business.”