Portman, Manchin make case for bipartisanship in divided Congress

The Ohio Capital Journal highlighted a panel discussion on bipartisanship in a divided Congress hosted by the University of Cincinnati's Portman Center for Policy Solutions.

UC played host to former U.S. Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, and U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin III, I-W.V., to discuss ways to build consensus in a sharply divided Congress.

The center offers a fellowship program named in Portman’s honor to teach students interested in policy to pursue consensus central to Portman’s legislative career, the Ohio Capital Journal reported.

“I meet with them regularly and it’s just been great for thinking about the future of our country to be with some young people who are really bright and accomplished and committed to the mission,” Portman told the Ohio Capital Journal.

Portman and Manchin highlighted some bipartisan accomplishments of the 117th Congress on which they served between 2021-23, including legislation such as the Infrastructure law, the CHIPS and Science Act and the Electoral Count Reform Act passed after the Jan. 6 riot.

Even this year’s sharply divided Congress has been able to find some common ground. The House of Representatives this year passed bills to improve weather forecasting for wildfire conditions, cap orphaned and abandoned oil wells and pursue land use methods to improve carbon sequestration, among other bills.

“To pass meaningful legislation in a divided Congress, elected officials in the two parties must work together,” UC Associate Professor Andrew Lewis said.

Lewis is executive director of UC's Portman Center for Policy Solutions.

“Bipartisanship has become increasingly challenging, but Sen. Manchin and Sen. Portman have been leaders in crafting common ground legislation and getting it enacted,” Lewis said.

Read the Ohio Capital Journal story.

Featured image at top: UC's Portman Center for Policy Solutions hosted a panel discussion on the value of bipartisanship in Congress. Photo/Adam Michael Szuscik/Unsplash