Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle joins Yahoo Finance's Rick Newman, Kristin Myers and Adam Shapiro to break down highlights from President Joe Biden's inauguration.
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KRISTIN MYERS: So let's get into some of those issues that [INAUDIBLE] was just highlighting. I want to bring on former Senate Majority leader Tom Daschle and Yahoo Finance's Rick Newman now to the program.
Senator, essentially, [INAUDIBLE] was just mentioning that that piece about-- it's President Biden's job to turn down the temperature and him laughing at that, essentially because he has to work with the Congress, with members that have been the ones that have really been turning that temperature up.
I'm wondering how you imagine President Biden working with some of those members inside of Congress, some of whom actually have already said that they're going to be planning on filing articles of impeachment against him. How does the new president work with a Congress that is filled with some of those members?
TOM DASCHLE: Well, I think you have to isolate the radicals. There isn't much you can do as somebody who would be that outlandish this soon, and it's very unfortunate. But there are a lot of Republicans that I think hold real promise. They know we've got to govern. I think one of the things that Joe Biden can do-- and he's very good at doing it-- is to include Republican leadership as decisions are made.
Invite the leadership of Congress down to the White House perhaps once a week on a Tuesday morning, talking about what they could accomplish together that week in spite of whatever differences there may be. Invite them up to Camp David. Talk about what you want to accomplish for the coming year and use that as sort of the beginning for whatever it is you're going to say you want to do for the country for that particular year.
Do as much to include, to organize, to collaborate, to create that environment. Everyone has to turn down the temperature. And Joe Biden didn't create it, but he can help and he can contribute in doing it as much as possible to alleviate it. And I think that's what he'll try to do.
ADAM SHAPIRO: Rick, what do you think of what Senator Daschle has said? I mean, would that include, perhaps, even inviting Ted Cruz to a one-on-one with the president?
RICK NEWMAN: [CHUCKLES] Well, it makes me think of the Obama years and when Republicans had control of either one or both Houses for six of the eight Obama years. I mean, Mitch McConnell said outright that his goal was basically to obstruct President Obama. So I would put that question to Senator Daschle. Do you see the Republicans basically just wanting to be obstructionists during Joe Biden's presidency, as they were for most of Obama's? Or do you think it will be different for some reason?
TOM DASCHLE: I think that remains to be seen. I don't think that the Republicans are any more unified today than they may have been over the course of the last several years. I think in some cases, you're going to see a real willingness on the part of Republicans to write a new chapter.
Mitch McConnell has started to put space between him and Donald Trump. I think he wants to do that institutionally. It will be interesting to see over the course of the next couple of weeks what indication there is, what evidence there may be that he wants to accomplish something together with a Biden administration.
You know, when you think about it, Chuck Schumer, Mitch McConnell, and Joe Biden have about a century-- a century-- of service in the United States Senate. That has to mean something. There has to be some opportunity there to create the kind of partnership necessary to begin to govern. Joe Biden laid out just an array of challenges this country is now facing. We don't have the luxury of ignoring them or fighting over them for the next four years. We've got to find ways to address them.
RICK NEWMAN: So I want to ask about some of those policy issues, but first, let's just get the impeachment trial out of the way. Do you think there is a chance the Senate could actually convict President Trump? And would that, in some way, align some Republicans more with Democrats in terms of legislative priorities that would come afterwards?
TOM DASCHLE: Well, you ask the question in a way that I think you could obviously answer in the affirmative. There is a chance. I'd say the odds probably are still unlikely. But I think Mitch McConnell's recent comments are an indication that they are giving it a great deal of thought.
I don't think there's any question he's guilty. I don't think most objective observers would challenge that. The real question is, is there enough political courage on the part of 17 Republicans to address this issue head on and to put it behind us? I'm hopeful that is the case, but time will tell.
KRISTIN MYERS: Senator, I'm wondering how you imagine in terms of that alignment, a lot of folks have said the Democrats have really provided a safe space for some conservatives, for some Republicans inside their party. I'm wondering-- and we've been talking about this a little bit throughout the program-- how you imagine that the fractional nature of the Republican Party, particularly with this rise of Trumpism, impacting any kind of consensus that might be happening, particularly inside the Senate, going forward.
TOM DASCHLE: Well, I think consensus is always difficult to achieve. I served there for a number of years and the leader for 10 years. And I can tell you that it doesn't come easy. It really does require a lot of work, a lot of effort. The problem we've had in recent years is, more and more, members of the Senate believe compromise is capitulation. Compromise is not capitulation. Compromise is the oxygen of democracy.
We're going to have to see that compromise and evidence as we go through this very aggressive and ambitious agenda that Joe Biden intends to lay out. It's going to require participation. We don't need unanimity. We don't even need an overwhelming majority. We are going to need a consensus. And that is going to drive our success on achieving many of these very, very important goals.
ADAM SHAPIRO: Would it be to the president's advantage, then, to try and maneuver around Mitch McConnell via Mitt Romney or, say, Roy Blunt?
TOM DASCHLE: Well, I don't think you really have an opportunity to do that with any regularity. Obviously, he has to work with the leadership he's given. But all presidents attempt to, if I can use the term, pick off people in the opposite party. George W. Bush did it when I was leader on occasion, sometimes successfully. And that's just the democratic process, with a small D. I think, you know, no president is precluded from making the effort.
But by and large, as you talk about schedule, as you talk about the agenda, as you talk about the things you really need to do with the Congress, you have to be inclusive of Republican leadership, no matter how much they agree or disagree.
RICK NEWMAN: Senator, we have a pretty good idea what Biden's priorities are going to be during a first year. We know what the relief bill is going to be. There could be some student debt relief attached to that. Then, we're probably going to get an infrastructure bill that includes a lot of green energy investing. And then, after that, probably tax hikes and some spending programs. Where do you think Biden might have a chance at getting 10 Republican senators to go along so he can get a supermajority and that vote can get through without using reconciliation?
TOM DASCHLE: Well, that's a great question. I think in all of these cases, there are opportunities. I think, really, it depends partly how he frames the issue, partly about how aggressively he goes after finding those 10. I think it's important to-- you know, we've talked about-- I should say, the Congress has talked about restoring earmarks. I happen to believe that earmarks are a very important tool for leadership on both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue.
Using leadership opportunities like that, tools that give you more of a chance for senators and members of the House to buy in, to feel invested in a piece of legislation can really dramatically augment your ability to get something done. I know there was abuse around earmarks. They have to be-- those abuses need to be addressed.
But I think it's a very important tool not only for good governance. I think putting people in charge of decisions like this who are elected rather than appointed makes a lot of sense as long as there's transparency and full reporting. But I do think that from a leadership point of view, it could be a very important tool to get those 10 or 20 or whatever number is necessary to pass a good piece of legislation.
KRISTIN MYERS: All right, former Senate Majority leader Tom Daschle, thank you so much for joining us. Also, thank you to Yahoo Finance's Rick Newman for talking through some of these policy initiatives.
