Sen. Portman Warns Biden Against Going It Alone On COVID-19 Relief

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Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, seen here during a press conference in October, announced he won’t run for reelection in 2022, citing hyper-partisanship in Congress.

Graeme Jennings/Pool/AFP via Getty Images

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Graeme Jennings/Pool/AFP via Getty Images

Politics
Early Procedural Test Shows Where Senate GOP May Stand On Convicting Trump

Politics
Sen. Rob Portman Won’t Seek Reelection

Portman handily won reelection in 2016 and his surprising retirement announcement Monday launched speculation of who will run to replace him in what will likely be a competitive race.

He said he’s not sure if conservative Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, a Trump ally, would run for his seat.

«He’s in the House now and has a significant role there,» Portman said. «I just think it’s up to the Ohio voters to decide who’s going to succeed me.»

On the No. 3 House Republican, Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, Portman is more effusive. Cheney has come under fire from many in her party after she supported impeaching Trump for inciting the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol this month.

Portman this week joined most of his GOP caucus in a vote indicating that a Senate impeachment trial of a former president is unconstitutional.

Calling her a «friend,» Portman said that if it were up to him, he would vote to keep Cheney in leadership.

«She’s a very consistent Republican, at least in the tradition of our party,» he said. «I think she does a good job not just for the House, but as the spokesperson for the Republican Party nationally.»

The difficulty of finding middle ground

Portman cited «partisan gridlock» in his announcement Monday that he wouldn’t run for reelection in 2022.

«I just think people are being pushed further and further to the right or to the left, and it’s harder to find people willing to do the hard work to find that middle ground,» he told Davis. «I think it is not rewarded as much.»

In terms of the role of more mainstream Republicans like himself, Portman pointed to a quote from a GOP strategist which was brought to his attention — «if you want to get on, you know, MSNBC or FOX and throw red meat, you know, it’s a great time to be in office. So if you want to try to get things done, it’s a hard time,» Portman paraphrased. «He used more colorful language than that.»

He added: «The point is, I think he’s probably right. It’s just a different environment, even in the last 10 years since I’ve been in the United States Senate and certainly in the last 30 since I first got working in the first Bush administration.»

Portman doesn’t lay the blame for partisanship solely at Trump’s feet.

«He has exacerbated the problem in the sense that the tweets, the incivility, the coarseness of language and so on are part of it,» he said. «But let’s face it, it’s been going on for a while.»

Capitol attack

As the top Republican on the panel investigating the Jan. 6 attack, Portman said he thinks the probe will review Trump’s role and that of any members of Congress in inciting the riot, saying there are «deeper questions» about why people were «incentivized to do this illegal act.»

He also said he’s open to creating a bipartisan 9/11-style commission to study the attack.

«Everyone has pretty short memories these days and I don’t want this to be forgotten,» he said. «We need to remember what happened, the severity of it, and understand how to avoid it from happening again.»

On Trump’s impeachment trial

Portman is undecided on how he will vote but expressed concerns over the precedent of holding a trial for someone who is no longer in office.

«I’ve got a duty as a juror and I think senators should listen to the arguments on both sides before they make their decision. That’s what I intend to do,» he said, noting he wants to hear arguments from both sides on the question of the trial’s constitutionality.

But he adds: «Right up to the end, of course, a president needs to be accountable.»

The second question he’ll be considering, he says, is whether convicting Trump would create more polarization in the country.

«Bringing the country together is important right now. We need to heal. And, you know, the question is, how do we do that best, and do we further the divisions and the polarization and create even more problems by one approach or another?»