Biden urges end to ‘poisonous atmosphere’ amid GOP leadership crisis

Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox

Get our free Inside Washington email

Please enter a valid email address

Please enter a valid email address

SIGN UP

I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy

President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for an end to the “poisonous atmosphere” and ongoing “brinksmanship” in Washington which led to a near-shutdown of the federal government over the weekend and the ouster of the Speaker of the House days later.

Speaking from the Roosevelt Room of the White House less than a day after the House of Representatives voted to remove Speaker Kevin McCarthy at the urging of right-wing lawmakers angered by his decision to advance legislation to keep the US government funded for 45 days, Mr Biden said he knows it will take time for the House to select a new leader, but cautioned that the American people “expect” that the Congress handle its’ obligations “in a timely fashion”.

“You know, we have strong disagreements, but we need to stop seeing each other as enemies — we need to talk to one another, listen to one another, work with one another, and we can do that,” he said.

The president did concede, however, that the dysfunction among Capitol Hill Republicans “does worry” him because it may make it harder for Congress to approve continued funding for Ukraine’s defence forces in their fight against Russia’s ongoing invasion.

But Mr Biden also said he knows “a majority” of both the House and Senate from both parties support continued US assistance to Kyiv.

He announced that he will be making “a major speech” about support for Ukraine and the reasons that it is “critically important” for the US to keep its’ commitment to fund Kyiv’s defence.

Asked how the US could continue to support Ukraine in the absence of congressional approval for more funding, Mr Biden told reporters that “there is another means by which we may able to find” more resources, but he said he would not “get into that now”.

Pressed further about the content of his upcoming remarks, he said he plans to “make the argument that it's overwhelmingly in the interest of the United States of America, that Ukraine succeed”.

“The majority of the American people still support Ukraine, and the majority of the members of Congress, both Democrat and Republican, support it. So I don't think we should let ... gamesmanship get in the way,” he said.