Sarah McBride

4-minute read

Rep. Sarah McBride, now in her second year in Congress, believes it's possible – still, despite all the noise of Washington politics – to move policy forward to improve quality of life in Delaware.

The Democrat who serves as Delaware's sole representative in the U.S. House recently met with editors and reporters for Delaware Online/The News Journal.

In a sprawling, hour-long discussion, McBride shared her perspectives on the polarized mood in Congress, President Donald Trump's attack on Iran, the rise of artificial intelligence, immigration and her priorities for her First State constituents.

As she has said in earlier interviews and in an op-ed published in January, McBride made the case to us that she is in Congress to deliver for Delaware. Despite the many challenges she's faced, McBridge spoke at length about her belief that it's still possible to advance policy that benefits her constituents' lives.

"People refer to it as the secret Congress, right?," McBride told us. "The Congress that doesn't get the media attention, that doesn't make the headlines, the moments that don't go viral on social media, which is actually a majority of our work and a majority of our time. ... People are normal, respectful colleagues, they're willing to compromise, they're willing to engage. ... A lot still gets done in that Congress, and that is obviously the necessary foundation for us to have any chance for the public Congress to work as well."

What follows are a selection of our questoins and portions of McBride's corresponding answers.

Delaware's representative in Congress

Question: What's it really like serving in Congress today? What should people know about, what it's like representing Delaware in this political environment?

McBride: Well, I think the the biggest thing for me is truly the weight of this moment. ... The first time I stepped onto the foot, onto the floor of the House of Representatives, it was a week to the day after the election; we were there for orientation. It was before my orientation got a little bit crazier than most. But I think the thing that really struck me stepping on the floor ... was that this is the place where previous generations have had to be stewards of what is now the longest running constitutional republic in world history and continuously. And I think that this is a moment not just as a byproduct of who is in public office and who the president is. But this is a moment where our democracy is experiencing real strain, potentially existential strain — from yes, the people who are in office,from yes, forces globally that are seeking to turn democracies into, at minimum, illiberal democracies, but also as a byproduct of a rapidly changing technological environment ... You know this as well as anyone that is undermining our shared sense of facts and reality, that's driving us further and further apart, that's incentivizing a kind of politics that is performative rather than progress fulfilling.

And I think that for folks to fully understand what it is like to be there, they have to fully understand that weight and the stakes of this moment, and frankly, it's one of the reasons why I am so passionate about finding whatever opportunity I can find to build relationships and to advance policies or investments that I believe are necessary for Delaware. ... At the end of the day, I believe that ... the crisis for our system of government that we face right now is rooted in a fear that government no longer works and functions, and we need people who are willing to push past the perverse incentives in our politics to actually make these institutions work and therefore deliver. If we are going to grapple with this ever-evolving and complicated technological environment we live in, whether it's social media or AI, Congress is going to have to get its act together to actually pass the kinds of rules and regulations that harness the potential positives and mitigate the potential negatives.

Delaware's political mood

Question: What are you hearing from ordinary Delawareans? What are they most worried about? Where do you feel that persuasion is still possible on the issues of the day?

McBride: I would say that there's no issue where persuasion is not possible. ... You're always going to have a group of people who are going to disagree with you, and they're never going to change their mind, and that's their right. But on different issues for different people, persuasion is still possible — it's in connecting with people who voted for this president in the last election, who voted for him because really two things were paramount in their heads. The first was costs were lower [in Trump's first term], and the Democrats talked a lot about democracy back then, and we survived. So what they're telling me is the risk didn't materialize before, and I had more money in my pocket, or at least the money in my pocket went further, and that is a there's a large group of those voters who don't like what they're seeing, who feel like the promises that were made were broken. You can persuade those folks to say, "Hey, we might not agree on every single issue, but our priorities align." We might disagree on certain cultural war issues. We might disagree on the proper role of government in health care on a specific point, but we both share a recognition that wages are not high enough and costs are too high, and that we can have a collaborative approach to move forward. I think there's that group. There's people who on issues that are personal, on issues that are just sort of within the broader category of social issues. You can still persuade people on those, that's still possible.

Artificial intelligence and social media

Question: Where do you see Congress's role in regulating AI in our lives? And what about social media?

McBride: I'm not going to give up on social media, and I think that there is opportunity for us to do some meaningful things on social media. ... And I think some of the things that we're seeing globally, in places like Australia and Spain, around protecting young people online is something that that people on both sides of the aisle can get behind, not allowing anyone under the age of 16 to use algorithmically driven social media platforms. We know these platforms are addictive. ... We have to conceptualize of these platforms, I think, in the same way that we conceptualized Big Tobacco back in the 20th century. And that doesn't mean that that that that policy is exactly the policy where we will or should land, but I think grappling with the real harm that social media platforms are inflicting on young people today is something that there is bipartisan support for.

AI is certainly the biggest change in society since the Industrial Revolution. And I would argue, potentially, is the biggest change in society since humans went from a nomadic species to an agriculturally based, stationary species. I mean, it's that significant in not just how our economy works, but how we relate to one another. This has to be something that policymakers are able to as best they can begin to comprehend and begin to figure out a path forward. And I think to the degree that there is bipartisan opportunity, I support that. So there's not a one-size-fits-all. I am someone who believes in what we call sectoral regulation. I think regulation for AI looks different in agriculture than it does in transportation, than it does in education, than it does in healthcare.

Rep. Sarah McBride: I fight to protect Delaware. And I'll keep going | Opinion

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McBride's priorities? Housing and improving Delaware's care economy

Question: What are some of the priorities you have this year?

McBride: Well, I'm currently working on a bill with Sen. Ruben Gallego ... that will hopefully help us to address thenational housing supply shortage and lower costs for homeowners and renters today, people who already own homes and aren't planning on buying. ... It also, I believe, must include investments in and changes to our careinfrastructure and our care economy, national paid family and medical leave and ... universal, affordable, quality child care. I believe that these are the biggest holes in our social safety net, and doing this nationally will do a couple things. One, it'll help Delaware improve and expand our paid leave program with federal support and federal resources, and it'll help Delaware grapple with the hole in our education system, which is birth through five ... But if Delaware can build out our care infrastructure, create a cradle-through-career support system that lowers costs for families, improves outcomes for children and makes the state an attractive place to live, work and raise a family. If we can do that ... so that we also maintain our competitive tax advantage ... that makes Delaware a really, really, really dynamic and interesting destination for young families to come live in. And the only way for Delaware to maintain that tax advantage and to have that infrastructure is with federal action. And if we can have both, I think Delaware will win the future.

Ed Forbes is senior director for opinion and engagement for DelawareOnline/The News Journal and is regional opinion and engagement editor for the USA TODAY Network Northeast.