But University of Mary Washington political science professor Stephen Farnsworth said the default position in Congress is the status quo, regardless of the political party in power.
He noted that President Barack Obama’s healthcare bill was “full of compromises” despite the Democratic majority in Congress at the time. And Obama was unable to follow through on his pledge to close the Guantánamo Bay prison because Congress would not let him, Farnsworth said.
“Any new president is going to have a problem with change getting through Congress,” he said. “Congress does not have an interest in being a rubber stamp to the executive. It never has that interest.”
