The Great Bipartisan Abdication

By Leon E. Panetta

At this pivotal time for our country, we have a choice. We can be an America in renaissance—a world power working alongside our allies, with an innovative economy and a government where both parties work together. Or we can be an America in decline, allowing our fears, divisions and political paranoia to weaken our democracy and drive us down the path of failed empires.

The path we take will be determined by the leaders we elect and whether they work together. Unfortunately both parties have largely abdicated their responsibility to govern. The Republican Party has a history of budget discipline and law and order, but has surrendered much of that heritage to whatever President Trump wants. Democrats

have a history of passing landmark bipartisan legislation from Social Security to Medicare but have been isolated by the Republicans. While unified in opposing Mr. Trump’s policies, they have yet to offer a coherent alternative vision on fiscal and tax policy, on trade and immigration, and on law and order.

Democrats are still struggling to learn the lessons of the 2024 election. They assumed that passing legislation would be enough when the key in politics is understanding voters’ fears and concerns. The election wasn’t only about an aging president. It was about families worried about inflation, jobs, the border, respect for the law, and an increasingly dangerous world. Democratic leaders focused on the extreme views of the party’s base rather than average Americans’ pocketbook issues. Now, Republicans are making the same mistake.

Partisan divisions have paralyzed both parties and made it impossible to work together to govern. The resulting vacuum has led to oneparty rule that doesn’t address America’s crises, rubber stamps illconsidered legislation that bypasses the committee process, and is manipulated by political diversions that distract from the dysfunction in Washington.

It wasn’t always like this. During more than 50 years in public life, I have seen Republicans and Democrats work together on bipartisan legislation to improve Americans’ lives. When I got out of the Army in 1966, I went to work for a Republican senator from California, Thomas Kuchel, a moderate who was minority whip under Minority Leader Everett Dirksen of Illinois. Both worked with Democrats on legislation on civil rights, education, Medicare and national defense.

When I was elected to Congress in 1976, Tip O’Neill was the speaker—a Democrat’s Democrat from Boston. Tip had a great friendship with Bob Michel, the Republican minority leader from Illinois. They had their political differences, but when it came to the crucial issues facing the country, they believed that both parties had the responsibility to work together.

Under a Republican president, Ronald Reagan, Republicans and Democrats passed bipartisan legislation— Social Security reform, comprehensive immigration reform, and major tax reform.

As chairman of the House Budget Committee during the 1980s and ’90s, I worked with my Republican ranking members to pass deficit-reduction bills that ultimately resulted in a balanced federal budget. None of that could have happened without strong Republican and Democratic leaders like Bob Dole, George Mitchell, Howard Baker, Pete Domenici, Tom Foley, O’Neill and Michel working together.

Compare that period with today’s bitter partisanship in the face of America’s economic crises. Our record national debt grew by $4.1 trillion when the Republican Congress, without any Democratic votes, passed the president’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The legislation gives tax breaks to the wealthy and cuts Medicaid and nutrition programs for the poor. Interest payments on the national debt will explode to nearly $2 trillion a year within a decade. The Social Security and Medicare trust funds will become insolvent by 2032, but neither political party shows any interest in the entitlement or tax reforms needed to reduce the debt. The shaky bond market reflects concerns about the expanding debt and rising inflation. An unpredictable tariff policy is driving up prices.

These crises require leadership, but Washington has offered nothing but distractions. The speaker recessed the House to avoid a bipartisan effort to release the Epstein files. Both parties are in a redistricting war that is trying to manipulate the will of the people. No appropriations bills have been passed, and another budget crisis could shut down the government. The president is recklessly undermining the independence of the Federal Reserve, and he fired the person responsible for the integrity of the nation’s economic statistics. For close to 250 years, American democracy and stability have relied on both parties listening to one another and trusting each other to find compromise. That is what it takes to govern. The history of failed empires is the history of failed leadership that ignored economic and military threats and lied about the empire’s ability to survive.

We govern by leadership or crisis. If leaders make tough decisions and take the political risks inherent in making the right decision, we can avoid crisis. If not, we will continue to govern by crisis. The American people deserve better. They vote for leaders to go to Washing--ton to govern and to put nation ahead of party. It is time for the president and Congress not to fight over power but for the good of the country.

Mr. Panetta served as White House chief of staff (1994-97), director of the Central Intelligence Agency (2009-11) and defense secretary (2011-13).