SOF Digital Discussion: Is Bipartisanship Still Possible?
Join us on Thursday, May 20 for an SOF Digital Discussion featuring the co-chairs of the Congressional Problem Solvers Caucus, United States Representatives Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) and Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), in conversation with Lulu Garcia-Navarro, host of Weekend Edition Sunday on National Public Radio and one of the hosts of NPR’s morning news podcast Up First. In recent years, bipartisan consensus in Congress has become increasingly elusive, as Democrats and Republicans act unilaterally to pass their favored initiatives and obstruct anything outside a narrow range of acceptability. With the current House and Senate so evenly divided, is compromise finally possible on major issues like infrastructure and immigration? Led by Garcia-Navarro, US Reps. Fitzpatrick and Gottheimer will discuss their efforts through the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus to transcend what seems like intractable gridlock.
*This event is open exclusively to members of the Society of Fellows. If you are not currently a member of the Society of Fellows, and are interested in joining, contact the SOF team at 970-544-7980 or sof@aspeninstitute.org.
Presenters:
Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) is in his third term representing Pennsylvania’s 1st Congressional District, which includes all of Bucks County, a mostly suburban county north of Philadelphia. Prior to being elected to Congress, Fitzpatrick was a Special Assistant US Attorney and FBI agent working on anti-corruption cases. In Congress, he sits on the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. He is also a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. In April 2021, Fitzpatrick was selected by his colleagues to co-chair the Problem Solvers Caucus.
Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) is in his third term representing New Jersey’s 5th Congressional District, which is in the northernmost part of the state and includes parts of Bergen, Passaic, Sussex, and Warren counties. Before running for Congress, he worked at Microsoft where he focused on the company’s expansion into the cloud, e-commerce, and privacy. He currently serves on the Financial Services Committee and co-chairs the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus.
Lulu Garcia-Navarro is the host of Weekend Edition Sunday on National Public Radio and one of the hosts of NPR’s morning news podcast Up First. Before Weekend Edition Sunday, she was an NPR correspondent based in Brazil, Israel, Mexico, and Iraq. She was one of the first reporters to enter Libya after the 2011 Arab Spring uprising began and spent months painting a deep and vivid portrait of a country at war. Often at great personal risk, Garcia-Navarro captured history in the making with stunning insight, courage, and humanity. For her work covering the Arab Spring, Garcia-Navarro was awarded a 2011 George Foster Peabody Award, a Lowell Thomas Award, an Edward R. Murrow Award, and a Gracie Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement. She was recognized with a 2005 Peabody Award and a 2007 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Silver Baton for her contributions to NPR’s reporting on Iraq. She has also won awards for her work on migration in Mexico and the Amazon in Brazil. Since joining Weekend Edition Sunday, Garcia-Navarro and her team have also received a Gracie for their coverage of the #MeToo movement. She’s hard at work making sure Weekend Edition brings in the voices of those who will surprise, delight, and move you, wherever they might be found.