ABSTRACT
Scholars and journalists have long pondered times of federal gridlock, contrasting them with highly productive years. Gridlock prevails, as when, in 1992 [President George H. W. Bush, Republican, and a Democratic Congress], congressional efforts to cut the capital gains tax and to reform lobbying, campaign finance, banking, parental leave, and voter registration laws ended in deadlock. Although Congressional deadlock is often seen as Republican versus Democrat, a cogent book-length analysis by the Brookings Institution sees it rather as urban versus rural. In 2013, the authors state, the Republican governor, Brian Sandoval, vetoed a bill “passed by the urban-dominated, Democratic-controlled legislature, requiring background checks for private gun purchases or transfers.” Mr. McConnell’s remarks, confirmed by four Republicans familiar with them, threw cold water on Mr. Trump’s increasingly urgent push to enact a new round of pandemic aid before Election Day.
