Rep. Tom Suozzi takes leadership role seeking centrism, describes 'very, very frustrating year'

WASHINGTON — Rep. Tom Suozzi concedes that it’s been a difficult first year as the Democratic co-chair of a bipartisan group of nearly 50 members of Congress whose goal is to find common ground between the two parties.

The phrase, "the middle of the road is for yellow lines and roadkill" even prompts a self-deprecating laugh from him.

But as Suozzi (D-Glen Cove) tells it, he sees the Problem Solvers Caucus as a leading vehicle for maneuvering bipartisan congressional compromises on difficult issues ranging from health care fixes to immigration reform.

And he believes that efforts in 2025, even if often behind-the-scenes, have set the table for potential achievements in 2026.

"People really want us to work together," Suozzi says, responding that he does not much care if those words sound too much like elementary politician speak. As the group’s new Democratic co-chair, Suozzi says, that’s precisely what he’s been working to deliver.

Critics of the Problem Solvers say the group has never been much of a factor — and so far they see little change in that under Suozzi. The caucus, founded in 2017, is an offshoot of the nonpartisan group No Labels and was devised to be a critical voting bloc, its membership a balanced mix of  Republicans and Democrats.

Long Island’s two Republican House members, Rep. Nick LaLota (R-Amityville) and Andrew Garbarino (R-Bayport) also are members.

But LaLota on Friday indicated there are internal tensions. In a statement, he asserted that the group’s Democrats "went along with the 2025 government shutdown" and in 2023 (prior to Suozzi’s return to Congress) chose not to help prevent former Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s ouster by a small group of far-right Republicans.

After those episodes, LaLota said, "I’m looking to our colleagues to stand up to party extremes and deliver the good governance our caucus promises."

Political scientist Norman Ornstein also questioned the group's effectiveness.

"I truly wish the problem solvers were actually problem-solvers. Unfortunately, they’re not, and they never have been," said Ornstein, former resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, a center-right leaning think tank.

Particularly for most of the Republicans, Ornstein said, being a member is more of a way to have their cake and eat it too — a veneer "to come across for moderate voters as a more moderate lawmaker," without having to actually do anything to solve any problem or upset their leaders.

Defending the effort

Suozzi and his Republican co-chair, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania — who both represent districts viewed by non-partisan handicappers as electorally competitive — emphatically refute that the caucus is more about moderate posturing and talking points than substance.

That’s "ridiculous," Fitzpatrick fires back. The performative groups, he says, are those on the far left and right, while the Problem Solvers Caucus is bipartisan "and doesn’t seek attention." He said the caucus may be relatively little-known, but mainly "because it is not filled with single-party ideologues."

The group has previously gotten some credit for being a key player in building bipartisan momentum toward passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) in 2021. 

Pressed then to describe what precisely the caucus has achieved this past year, Suozzi and aides offer talk of good ideas contained in proposals, or participation in bipartisan and bicameral talks or other meetings.

Suozzi rattles off issue position papers, proposals and stances the caucus has prepared and taken in 2025.. He mentions work on immigration reform and a visit to the border, as well as the group's endorsement of bipartisan legislation designed to protect victims of real and deepfake revenge pornography.

He also notes that he was one of six Democrats who bucked their party leaders by joining Republicans in voting to reopen government after a 43-day shutdown. The shutdown was a fight mostly over extending enhanced Affordable Care Act premium subsidies. But Republicans didn’t even need his vote, after all, to pass the reopening bill.

Suozzi also points to Fitzpatrick and three other House Republicans — at least two of the others also being members of the Problem Solvers — joining Democrats this month to procedurally force a vote in January on a Democratic leadership effort to extend the ACA subsidies.

That may have as much underscored the inability of Problem Solvers caucus members to get enough support or traction with their own bills for passage, including versions cosponsored by Suozzi.

Bipartisan relationships

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-Brooklyn) credits Suozzi's leadership with being "a critical element of our successful fight to force a vote on extending the Affordable Care Act credits." He points to what he describes as the "strength of his bipartisan relationships and commitment to common-sense solutions."

In the same statement to Newsday, Jeffries notes that Suozzi played "a leading role in passing bipartisan legislation to restore collective bargaining rights for federal civil servants." He described Suozzi as someone "in public service to fix what is broken," and with whom he is proud to work alongside.

Suozzi’s first year as co-chair of the Problem Solvers group arrived at a time of Republican control of the White House and both chambers of Congress — and little two-party collaboration on the big bills.

The year kicked off, in fact, with President Donald Trump’s federal job and other cuts by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) under Elon Musk's direction.

There was then passage of the huge reconciliation package of expiring Trump-era tax cuts, conservative health care cuts and other priorities; the record-long government shutdown in the fight over continuing Affordable Care Act premium subsidies; and failure to ultimately reach a deal to keep those subsidies from expiring Jan. 1.

'Honest broker'

No one is suggesting that Suozzi as the Democratic chair of the Problem Solvers — or the 47-member caucus in its entirety — was ever expected to alter these developments.

But then, Ornstein suggests, that is why the group is not very effective.

"For some, I will give them credit that they would like to solve problems," Ornstein said. "But when the crunch comes, they are either too cowardly or too craven to stand up against their partisan and tribal colleagues."

Suozzi himself does get some high marks from Fitzpatrick and other caucus Republican colleagues for his efforts in a tough climate for bipartisanship. His work may not yet show up on many public assessments of effectiveness, they say, but it should.

"I appreciate how Tom has tried to work in a bipartisan way on the toughest issues: legal immigration reforms and health care," adds Rep. Don Bacon, (R-Neb.), himself a co-sponsor with Suozzi on legislation to extend the enhanced ACA premium tax credits for two years.

"He’s an honest broker and I trust him," Bacon said. "Additionally, he’s one of the three main Dems I work with on finding consensus solutions."

Suozzi himself says, "I think it's been a very, very frustrating year, very difficult. But I think it's been very frustrating and difficult for the American people."

He added: "I think that the bipartisan muscles in Congress have really atrophied, and, you know, I'm trying to work them out a little bit and get them back in the gate."