Talking Points: Working With President Trump
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – As President-elect Donald Trump stands to be inaugurated a week from Friday, congressional leaders on both sides are wondering what kind of a president the flamboyant businessman will be.
For Democrats, who are now in the minority in both the House and Senate, those concerns are especially acute. Still, there are Democratic lawmakers, like Minnesota Sen. Al Franken, who say they will seek to deliver for their constituents while opposing Trump on certain issues.
"It's no secret I disagreed with pretty much everything Donald Trump said during his campaign and, like many Minnesotans, I found some of his rhetoric downright offensive. But he will be our president," the senator wrote in a recent column. "And while we can't yet say what he'll do when he takes office later this month, I can say I'm going to keep doing my job the same way I always have, working to make progress for the people of Minnesota wherever I can."
One area where Franken says he can work with Trump is infrastructure, as he called the president-elect's cabinet pick for transportation, Elaine Chao, a "responsible" public servant.
"She is a responsible person, and infrastructure I am not worried about," Franken said on WCCO Sunday Morning.
An area of greater concern for Franken is health care, as Trump and Republican leaders want to repeal The Affordable Care Act. The Minnesota senator says that if Obamacare is rolled back, there better be a new program to replace it.
"We're beginning to hear from Republican senators, pretty conservatives ones...who are saying, 'Don't do this,'" Franken said on WCCO Sunday Morning. "If we're going to repeal it, we're going to have to have something to replace it right away."
While Republicans now have a majority in the Senate, they don't have a big enough majority to override a filibuster, which can block legislation.
However, the Democrats did leave Trump a gift on cabinet and other nominations. In 2013, when they controlled the Senate, they effectively removed the filibuster as an option on most presidential nominations.