In a world where politics too often trumps relationships, sincere stories stand out. Note last week’s Senate hearing of then Department of Homeland Security candidate, Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin, and his public references to Democratic Rep. Josh Gottheimer.
With Gottheimer sitting behind him in the hearing, Mullen said this about his colleague:
“You know, Josh and I, we may not always agree on every issue, but he’s a friend.
And our relationship started back in 2017 when he thought I was a staff member running a workout group because I’ve been running a bipartisan workout group that started actually with the Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Jason Smith 13 years ago, and I still do that to this day. When he came in in ’17 — Joe Kennedy was also a friend of mine — he approached him when I was on the House floor and asked him ‘Why is a trainer in the gym on the House voting?’ And Joe Kennedy laughed and said, ‘He’s a member from Oklahoma.’ After that, we became friends.
In fact, our daughters are writing a book together about bipartisanship. But when Josh asked me to join a bipartisan group called ‘No Labels,’ that’s when we really started seeing that there’s a lot of common ground that we can work together.
Yeah, as I said in my opening statement, we all make decisions based on how we were raised and our life experiences, and Josh and I were raised different, just like everybody on this dais is raised different than me and we’ve had different life experiences. But we all believe in that flag right there behind you. And what I say is, as long as you love that flag as much as I do and you’re willing to die for that flag like I am, we can work together. We can set the differences aside, and we can work together. And Josh represents that, too.”
How honorable. Let me be clear: with a government in which so many on all sides question the honor and integrity of so many, we need more public servants like Markwayne Mullen and Josh Gottheimer.
Look at how they’re teaching the next generation; their daughter’s are collaborating on a book together.
Note more insight from Mullin, as he continued in his hearing…
“Just for him [Josh] being here, you guys know, he’s got a primary. In New Jersey. He’s not a senator who has 6 years; he’s up every 2 years, and he’s here. That’s a friend. That says ‘hey, my political differences are beside — I still like you. I cannot tell you how many members on the Democratic party which I love and respect — and I understand the politics — who’ve came up to me since this nomination and said, ‘Hey, I love you, but. But I’m running for this office, but I’m running for this office, but I’m up for reelection. I’d get killed in my state. In most cases I would support you, but. But. I can’t. And it drives me crazy, but when you see a real friend like that, I’d run through fire for the guy.”
And therein lies the integrity problem in our government today.
Politics have been prioritized over relationship. And when relationships are sacrificed, so too is the trust required to govern well.
What makes the example of Markwayne Mullin and Josh Gottheimer so compelling is not that they agree—it’s that they don’t. Yet they refuse to reduce one another to caricatures or political liabilities. Contrast that with the broader culture in Washington, where too many elected officials—Democrats and Republicans alike—treat the “other side” not as colleagues with differing perspectives, but as obstacles to be discredited. The result is a system where cooperation is seen as weakness, and integrity is traded for electability. By dismissing and distancing themselves from those across the aisle, leaders may strengthen their chances in the next election, but they weaken the very institution they were elected to serve. Until both parties are willing to reject this all-or-nothing mindset—where one side is entirely right and the other entirely wrong—we will continue to see division win out over progress. And that is a cost the American people can no longer afford.
Respectfully…
AR