Most Republicans hesitant about compromise with Biden: survey

A majority of Republicans in a new survey said they think congressional Republicans should not compromise with President Biden on core GOP issues, even if makes it more difficult to address the nation’s critical problems.

Sixty-four percent of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents in a Pew Research survey released on Tuesday said GOP members of Congress should “stand up” to Biden, while 34 percent said they should work with Biden, even if it means making concessions that will disappoint GOP voters.

On the other side of the aisle, a majority of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents — 58 percent — said Biden should work with congressional Republicans even if it disappoints some of his supporters. Another 41 percent of Democrats said Biden should “stand up” to Republicans.

This partisan gap on a compromise will likely come into play as Biden and congressional Republicans face off in the coming months over the debt ceiling.

The U.S. hit its debt ceiling earlier this month, leading the Treasury Department to employ “extraordinary measures” to prevent a default. These measures are expected to give Congress until early June to address the debt ceiling.

However, Republicans have vowed to tie a debt ceiling increase to spending cuts — a non-starter for Biden and congressional Democrats, who have advocated for a clean increase of the debt limit.

With the White House so far declining to negotiate with Republicans, both sides are gearing up for a showdown that has the potential for substantial economic fallout. If Congress fails to raise the debt ceiling and the U.S. government defaults on its debt, it could trigger a global economic crisis.

The new poll from Pew Research also found that a majority of Republicans — 56 percent — are concerned that GOP members of Congress will not focus enough on investigating Biden with their newly obtained majority in the House.

Since securing a slim majority in November’s midterm elections, House Republicans have vowed to investigate Biden on multiple fronts, including his family’s finances, his administration’s policies on the U.S.-Mexico border and his handling of classified materials.

However, 65 percent of the general public said they are concerned that the GOP will focus too heavily on investigating Biden.

The poll was conducted from Jan. 18 to Jan. 24 with 5,152 members of Pew Research’s American Trends Panel and had a margin of error of 1.7 percentage points.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.