Schiff Ready To Reach Across Aisle As Trump Heads Back To White House
California Democratic Senator Adam Schiff seems to have acknowledged the importance of “reaching across the aisle” to collaborate with Republicans as President-elect Donald Trump prepares to return to the White House.
In an interview with NBC San Diego, Schiff discussed his recent election victory in November, where he secured the late Senator Dianne Feinstein’s seat. Schiff will officially begin his full six-year term in the new year.
“I’m going from representing 750,000 constituents in my district to 40 million across California, which is incredibly exciting,” Schiff shared with NBC 7. “To accomplish meaningful change, it’s essential to work with colleagues across the aisle, so there’s a strong incentive to build partnerships.”
The California senator, who has been a vocal critic of Trump for years, now emphasizes the need to collaborate across political divisions to “get things done.”
“There will be moments where I’ll need to stand firm against the president and push back,” Schiff explained. “Californians will expect that from me. At the same time, I’ll need to work on building bipartisan solutions. Balancing both roles will undoubtedly be a challenge.”
Schiff highlighted critical issues that require bipartisan efforts: “Because housing is becoming increasingly scarce, and our population continues to grow, many are left homeless or unable to afford rent or buy homes. These are problems we can address, and many of the solutions have bipartisan support.”
He continued, “On healthcare, the economy, and reducing costs, there’s significant potential for progress if we prioritize solutions instead of constant fighting.”
Schiff’s call for bipartisan cooperation comes after he criticized Trump following his November election victory.
During an appearance on CNN’s State of the Union, host Jake Tapper asked Schiff about President-elect Trump’s recent cabinet appointments.
“You were censured in the House last year for, as they described it, abusing your position as chairman of the House Intelligence Committee during Trump’s presidency by claiming there was evidence of collusion between Trump’s campaign and Russia,” Tapper said. “Do you feel any introspection about those claims, given that the Mueller report and your Republican colleagues argue they were overstated? Do you think your actions contributed to the current political climate?”
Schiff responded firmly, “First of all, it wasn’t an overstatement. There is evidence of collusion. For instance, Trump’s campaign manager shared internal polling data with Russian intelligence. The Mueller report lays all this out.”
Tapper countered, quoting the report: “It says, ‘The investigation did not establish that members of the Trump campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities.’ This doesn’t negate the meetings, but it indicates no evidence was found.”
Schiff replied, “Mueller also stated, ‘The fact that we didn’t find proof beyond a reasonable doubt doesn’t mean there wasn’t evidence of conspiracy or coordination.’”
In 2023, Schiff was censured in a party-line vote by the House of Representatives for his repeated claims that Trump’s 2016 campaign colluded with Russia. Earlier that year, he was removed from the House Intelligence Committee.
Schiff’s allegations were heavily based on the Steele dossier, which alleged the Kremlin had compromising information on Trump and that his team conspired with Russia. However, Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s 2019 report concluded there was no evidence of such collusion.
Further discrediting the Steele dossier, Special Counsel John Durham accused Russian analyst Ivan Danchenko, a primary source for the dossier, of lying to the FBI in 2021.