House Democrat Adam Gray of Merced is ready to solve problems. The GOP, not so much | Opinion
While freshman Rep. Adam Gray, D-Merced, signaled he’s ready to tackle immigration, high housing costs and other issues, two Republican colleagues were still in campaign mode during a Sunday morning appearance on CNN.
Gray appeared alongside Democratic colleague Yassamin Ansari of Arizona and Republicans Riley Moore of West Virginia and Brandon Gill of Texas, all first-time House members, on Jake Tapper’s “State of the Union.”
Gray — who defeated GOP incumbent John Duarte by 187 votes in a district that includes portions of Fresno, Madera, Merced and Stanislaus counties — was asked his thoughts about working in a chamber with a slim 219-215 Republican edge.
“Well, I campaigned against the gridlock and, frankly, one of the most unproductive Congresses in U.S. history,” said Gray. “What Americans want to see is border security. They want to see immigrants who are law-abiding, hardworking folks get treated with respect. They want a strong economy.”
Gray, noting that his district is driven by agriculture that depends on a labor force that is largely undocumented, said Congress must find “immigrant solutions” to assure that crops can get harvested.
“Obviously, the last Congress wasn’t serious enough, which is why the American people sent me here and sent a strong message that they want change. Status quo is not going to do it.”
It should be noted that Gray’s district, which is Latino majority, went for Donald Trump by 5 points.
So, what did the Republican lawmakers say in their first national television interview?
Gill: “The Republican Conference is unified behind the Trump agenda right now. We’re unified behind wanting to end the chaos that Joe Biden and the Democrat Party have unleashed on this country. That’s chaos at the border, where they’re facilitating the largest sex trafficking operation in the world right now at our southern border.
“We want to end the woke chaos that they have unleashed on this country, saying that boys can become girls, that girls can become boys, that boys should be in girls sports, and that boys should be in girls locker rooms. This is the chaos that we are unified at stopping, and that’s what we’re going to do.”
Moore: “We had 12 million illegals come over the border in just four years. We used to sit here and talk about (having) 10 to 12 million illegal immigrants inside the country prior to Biden. We have an additional 12 million that have come within the last four years. We have to secure the border. We have to close the border.”
The West Virginian said undocumented labor depresses wages for American workers, and that Republicans are “putting Americans first in this new agenda.” He implies there are at least 22 million undocumented residents in this country, but does not provide the evidence. The Department of Homeland Security pegs the 2022 figure at 11 million, while the American Immigration Council estimates 14 million as of March 2024, and the Federation for American Immigration Reform put the number at 16.8 million in 2023.
Moore ended his comments this way: “Just to be clear, my constituents sent me here to this town not to work with Democrats, but to destroy their agenda over the last four years that has crushed this country, the American dream and the American worker. That’s what I’m here to do.”
The country gains from bipartisanship
Gray is right that the American public is tired of partisan politics. Republicans such as Gill and Moore, like Trump, believe voters gave them a mandate to dismantle an economy that, despite being hamstrung by inflation, has been generating jobs and rewarding stock market investors quite handsomely. They need to provide more specifics on how they will achieve their goals.
And, to be sure, Trump has no mandate. He defeated Democrat Kamala Harris by only 1.5%. To put it another way, The Nation reports that “if roughly 120,000 voters had switched their preferences in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, Harris would have won the Electoral College and the presidency.” So Republicans need to take stock honestly, and cool it with the mandate nonsense.
Gray, who previously served on the California Assembly, is a believer in reaching across the aisle. He founded the Problem Solvers Caucus of Democrats and Republican state lawmakers who work in a bipartisanship manner. “When I hear our new president talk about border security and fixing DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals), I see an opportunity. I’m willing to sit down at the table and get that done,” Gray told Tapper.
“What’s wrong with this town and so many capitals around the country is just this extreme partisanship all the time. There are plenty to point at on the far left and the far right. That’s a lot of nonsense,” said Gray. “We’ve got to move beyond that, get together, get things done, deliver results not rhetoric for the American people.”
We see no reaching across the aisle from Gill nor Moore. Given the current GOP majorities in the House and Senate, there’s little sign that bipartisanship will be a hallmark of the 119th Congress.