Freshman congresswoman from Texas urges President Biden to work with Republicans
Rep. Beth Van Duyne on Thursday criticized what she views as President Joe Biden’s lack of consultation with Republicans during his first days in office.
On Wednesday, she was among 17 House Republicans who sent a letter to Biden congratulating him on his inauguration and saying they were willing to work with him. Eleven had objected to the Electoral College results earlier this month declaring Biden the president. Van Duyne objected to Pennsylvania’s results, but voted for Arizona’s.
“The first day of Joe Biden’s presidency what we saw him do is basically destroy much of the work that has been successful over the last four years,” she said in an interview with Fox Business on Thursday afternoon, referring to the 17 executive orders Biden has signed since taking office Wednesday.
The orders included stopping the construction of former President Donald Trump’s border wall with Mexico, re-entering the U.S. into the Paris Climate accords, and extending a federal moratorium on evictions due to the pandemic.
“He needs to bring Republicans to the table to have these discussions because whoever is advising him right now is doing him no favors and is doing the American people no favor,” Van Duyne said.
She was particularly critical of Biden’s action to revoke a presidential permit for the Keystone XL oil pipeline.
“Leaving the Keystone XL pipeline permit in place would not be consistent with my Administration’s economic and climate imperatives,” Biden’s executive order said.
The Keystone XL pipeline project started in 2008 to transport oil from Alberta, Canada, to the Gulf Coast of Texas. It was expected to employ more than 11,000 Americans in 2021 and create more than $1.6 billion in gross wages, according to its website.
“Within one signature of the pen $1.6 billion in wages gone. Thousands and thousands of jobs gone at a time in this pandemic when we need them the most,” she said in the interview Thursday.
Van Duyne, of Irving, was the only representative from Texas to sign the letter.
“As members of this freshman class, we trust that the next four years will present your administration and the 117th Congress with numerous challenges and successes, and we are hopeful that — despite our ideological differences — we may work together on behalf of the American people we are each so fortunate to serve,” the letter stated.
Van Duyne warned that just because she is willing to work with “everyone and anyone — Republican, Democrat, or Independent” doesn’t mean she won’t be critical of the administration.
The letter stated the policy points the representatives wish to focus on, including coronavirus relief, protecting Americans with preexisting conditions, strengthening and modernizing infrastructure, enforcing antitrust laws against technology monopolies, and restoring the economy in the aftermath of the pandemic.
The letter was motivated by Trump’s experience with Congress.
“I had signed a letter with 16 of my fellow freshman Republican congressional members to try to work with this president because the last four years I have been critical of Democrats who have spent their entire time fighting to try to undermine the actions of President Trump,” she said in the interview Thursday.