Flanked by Democrats fanned out on the Capitol steps, Vice President Joe Biden on Tuesday laid into congressional Republicans for their obstruction of crucial legislative business.
Reporters were wilting under the late summer heat. Biden joked, “I’m gonna be brief because we’re feeling the heat, and so are the American people. They’re feeling the heat.”
Biden urged Congress to take action on issues he said were “bigger than partisan”: funding to fight Zika, the nomination of Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court and barring the sale of guns to people on FBI watch lists.
Biden’s relatively rare trip to the Capitol came as Congress returned this week from a nearly two-month summer recess and with Election Day just two months away. It was a chance for the outgoing vice president to rally Democrats. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) gave short remarks before Biden took the podium.
Biden had three main demands for Republicans. First, pass a clean, “up-and-down” $1.1 billion bill to fight Zika, a “legitimate national emergency.” President Obama requested $1.9 billion from Congress in February to fight the virus and since then, the bill has become mired in ideological fights.
Second, Biden demanded that Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland be given a vote, which Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), chairman of the Judiciary Committee, has refused to grant. Reid said this week that he would hold up committee meetings until the GOP moved on giving Garland a vote.
Finally, Biden demanded action on “no fly no buy” — basic gun control measures that would restrict the sale of guns to people on the FBI watch lists.
