GOP picks politics over governance

One of the many things I learned in the military is to leave aside differences in order to work for the common good. That's why I came to Washington a few weeks ago hopeful and ready to get things done – eager to look for common ground and work with my Republican colleagues on issues that greatly affect our country and impact the American people.

Unfortunately, in the first few weeks of the 114^th Congress, all Republicans have done is bring up bills that will go nowhere. These bills only exist for explicitly political purposes, and do nothing to move our country forward.

The American people elected us to work on their behalf, to pass reforms that will make their lives better, to improve our infrastructure and grow our economy. But rather than working on those issues, Republicans in the House and Senate are bringing up bills designed to make a political point. They want to prove to the extreme right just how anti-immigrant they are – and, as if that message hasn't been received, how much they still hate the Affordable Care Act.

This week the Senate voted on a bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which contains several anti-immigrant amendments that would roll back the president's Executive Actions to provide Deferred Action and protect DREAMers and parents of U.S. citizens from deportation.

We all knew this bill wouldn't go anywhere. The Senate didn't have the 60 votes to pass it, and the president made it clear that even if it passed, he would veto it. But that mattered very little to Republicans. The optics of holding the vote was the only priority for the GOP.

That same day, Republicans in the House held the 56^th vote to get rid of Obamacare – yet another bill that would go nowhere, but that Republicans keep bringing up for political purposes.

The Groundhog Day jokes wrote themselves.

Republicans want the American people to believe they can govern, yet they have shown no indication that they can. On the contrary, they've threatened to put our national security in danger by withholding DHS funds just so they can again remind us that they want to deport all immigrants – which we already knew – and they are wasting time holding yet another vote to repeal Obamacare just because they can.

The fact that they can hold these votes doesn't mean that they should. These political show votes are a waste of time, energy and taxpayer money.

In a clear contrast of priorities, Obama released his 2016 budget proposal this week. The president's budget focused on helping the middle class and continuing to grow our economy in a fiscally sustainable way – i.e. the real issues we're elected to address.

Rather than holding political show votes, Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and my Republican colleagues could bring up a clean DHS funding Bill; or a bill to make college more affordable; or bills to ensure that women receive equal pay for equal work; or pass taxpayer reforms that guarantee everyone pays their fair share.

As members of Congress we should spend our time in Washington working on bills that will help the American people who elected us, not playing political games that have serious implications. Republicans should prioritize our middle class rather than the extreme right wing of their party.

Gallego has represented Arizona's 7^th Congressional District since 2015. He sits on the Armed Services and Natural Resources committees.