HURON – While those paying attention witnessed the latest blow-up between President Trump and Democratic congressional leaders on Wednesday, Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., said he is confident the White House will remain a viable partner with Congress in moving the country forward.
In a conference call with reporters, he said the Constitution demands that the executive and legislative branches of government work together.
Since coming to Congress in January, he said even while everyone is angry he has been impressed to see that behind the scenes people continue to try to cooperate with each other.
Scant minutes into a meeting that was to be a discussion on infrastructure, the President walked out, leaving House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer behind.
The president told the media he can’t work with the Democrats as long as their investigations into him and his administration go on.
Trump wants to make clear to Democrats that he doesn’t appreciate the political theater surrounding the investigations, Johnson said.
But he said he agrees that Congress has oversight responsibility.
“I think there are questions Congress should be asking,” Johnson said.

However, he said he thinks the motivation behind the situation along with talk of impeachment has more to do with the 2020 elections.
“Frankly, I think it’s a distraction,” he said. “We have real work that needs to get done.”
Earlier this week, two more former administration officials refused to appear to testify before a congressional committee. Johnson doesn’t support their stance.
“When administration officials are asked to appear they should and should answer the questions asked,” he said.
Administration officials have appeared before the Agriculture and Education committees he serves on and, in some cases, have been grilled for hours, Johnson said.
“In general, if people are asked to appear they should,” he said.
Meanwhile, he said the South Dakota delegation is supporting efforts to secure disaster funding for the state due to flooding and excessive rainfall. Many farmers have been unable to get their fields planted because of wet conditions.
“There is as much uncertainty in the ag sector today as we have seen in a long time,” he said.
The tariff standoff between the United States, Canada and Mexico has been resolved, but talks with China are still up in the air.
Johnson said he thinks there is evidence that China has been negotiating in bad faith for much of the last few months. Officials from other governments have told him that it’s difficult to deal with the Chinese because they renege on deals after they have been made.
“I don’t know how you negotiate with people like that, but to keep them accountable,” he said.
Unless that happens, the United States is not going to be able to build long-term access to Chinese markets, Johnson said.
Meanwhile, he was asked about a classified briefing on the Iran situation that he attended with Department of Defense and Department of State officials on Tuesday.
Although he’s not at liberty to be specific as to what was said during what he described as an in-depth and lengthy briefing, Johnson said there were many pointed questions from members of Congress from both sides of the aisle as to what the administration is planning and what the legal framework would be for engagement with Iran.
Administration officials said they are not interested in regime change or to escalate the current tensions in the region.
“Not all members in that room were satisfied and this is going to be an ongoing discussion,” Johnson said.