U.S. President Joe Biden answers a matter during a news conference held after the 2022 U.S. midterm elections within the State Dining Room on the White House in Washington, November 9, 2022.
Tom Brenner | Reuters
President Joe Biden said Wednesday he’s wanting to work with congressional Republicans after the midterm elections, but stressed he wouldn’t compromise on issues like abortion rights and Social Security.
“On this election season the American people made it clear: They don’t desire each day moving forward to be a relentless political battle. There’s an excessive amount of of that occurring, and there is an excessive amount of we have now to do,” Biden said on the White House. “The longer term of America is just too promising to be trapped in an limitless political warfare.”
As Biden spoke at a news conference Wednesday afternoon, it was not clear which party would ultimately hold a majority in either chamber of Congress. Republicans are expected to select up seats within the House, but Biden’s Democratic Party fared higher on Election Day than most observers expected, and it could hold the Senate depending on how three unresolved races go.
What was clear to Biden was the slim margins will necessitate compromise. He said that after he returns from the G-20 summit in Indonesia, he’ll invite the leaders from each parties to the White House to stipulate economic and national security priorities for 2023.
“I’m open to any good ideas. I would like to be very clear: I’m not going to support any Republican proposal that is going to make inflation worse,” Biden said, raising the instance of removing the prescription drug price cap for Americans on Medicare passed by his party. “And I’m not going to walk away from the historic commitments we just made to tackle the climate crisis. They don’t seem to be compromise-able issues to me and I won’t let it occur.”
The president added he would keep his campaign promise not to extend federal taxes on anyone earning lower than $400,000 a 12 months, and if tax cuts are considered, they must be focused on working- and middle-class Americans.
“Not the very wealthy, they’re positive,” Biden said.
He also said fundamental changes to Social Security and Medicare are off the negotiating table. “I is not going to do this,” Biden said.
As well as, the president said he’ll “veto any try to pass as national ban on abortion.”
“But I’m able to compromise with Republicans where it is smart on many other issues, and I’ll all the time put the needs of the American people first,” he said.
