Magaziner spoke about the situation by phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Ian Donnis: You’re no stranger to politics, but you are a newcomer to Washington. What do you make of this unusual tableau that’s playing out with the election – or the attempt to elect a new speaker?
Seth Magaziner: We are certainly in an unusual time. This is the first time in 100 years that the House has been unable to elect the speaker on the first ballot. And, you know, I’d say it’s unfortunate. I think the American people expect Congress to be able to function and be productive. And the fact that a small number of the most extreme Republicans are not only holding up the speakership, but really holding up the business of the House – it’s concerning. We are not able to introduce bills or start our committee work until a speaker is elected. And I do worry that if this small group of radicals is able to succeed in mucking up a speaker vote, that they will try to do the same thing over the next two years on a lot of other issues, that they’ll come after Social Security or Medicare, that they’ll come after abortion rights, and try to hold the House hostage in service of an extreme agenda, which is not what Rhode Islanders want and not what most Americans want. So it’s concerning. But that being said, I’m trying to make the most of the time getting to know my new colleagues and preparing for doing the work once we actually elect the speaker and are able to get started.
Donnis: Assuming the issue of the speakership can get resolved, what will your priorities be for this session of Congress?
Magaziner: The same things that I prioritized during the campaign, so capping prescription drug prices, capping energy prices, protecting abortion rights, protecting Social Security and Medicare. These are the same things that I will be prioritizing in Congress, as I’ve been talking about over the last year.
Donnis: Of course, the future is impossible to predict. We see how Jim Langevin has left the House after 22 years. So you know, we don’t know how long or how short your tenure in Congress will be. But if you have to pick one tangible thing that you’d like to accomplish during however long you serve in the House, what would that be?
Magaziner: That’s a great question. I’m really focused on delivering for working Rhode Islanders. So I would love to be able to do something meaningful to help working Rhode Islanders get access to early childhood education and job training. Definitely that, I want to focus in on [it]. And I want to focus on helping Rhode Island grow our economy and delivering resources to build up the blue economy, the marine trades, manufacturing, good jobs in our state. So I know that part of my job is representing Rhode Island in Congress, but another part of my job is delivering resources to Rhode Island from the Congress, and so I will focus on doing that as well well.
Donnis: How will the split in partisan control between the House and the Senate affect the ability of you and other Democrats to achieve the objectives that you have?
Magaziner: Well, my hope is that we’ll still be able to work across the aisle with Republicans to get things done. That’s something that my predecessor Jim Langevin was very good at – he was able to build relationships on both sides of the aisle, to get things done on a range of issues. And I hope that we’ll be able to do the same. I mean, I prided myself on having good relationships with both Republicans and Democrats in the Statehouse as state treasurer. And I hope to be able to do the same here in Congress. I think that’s what the people expect of us.
Donnis: Have you bought a home in the Second District as of yet?
Magaziner: Nope, we’re still my wife and I are still living in Cranston. And we’ll buy when the time is right.
Donnis: You talked a little bit earlier about the divisions within the GOP. You know, these divisions are persisting even though we saw somewhat of a backlash against Donald Trump and Trumpism in the November election. What do you see in the future for the Republican Party?
Magaziner: Well, one of the things that is just wild for me is, I think the latest election in Rhode Island and nationally, was a rejection of extremism. I think that Republicans underperformed and Democrats outperformed expectations all across the country, because voters saw the Republican Party is just becoming too radical in the age of Donald Trump and Q-Anon. And the idea that after this election, the reaction of some of these Republicans in Congress is to double down on the extremism, I think, is insane. It’s clearly not what the people want. And I’m not in the business of giving Republicans political advice. But it’s very odd to me that they think that doubling down on extremism is going to be an effective strategy for them. My hope is that there are enough Republicans left in Congress who are willing to work across the aisle to actually get things done. And I know I’m ready and willing to work with anyone on the other side if it means getting good things done for working people in Rhode Island, and I hope that others feel the same way.
Ian Donnis can be reached at idonnis@thepublicsradio.org
