A year into his first term in Congress, Republican Sen. Eric Schmitt of Missouri has been trying to find his way while learning just how multi-layered relationships can be in Washington.
A hulking 6-foot-6, Schmidt is a far-right conservative and staunch defender of former President Donald J. Trump. In his first year in Congress, he introduced 11 bills, including one that would cut diversity and inclusion offices at federal agencies and another that would require agencies to repeal three regulations for every new one they introduce. As Missouri’s attorney general, Schmidt signed onto a lawsuit seeking to overturn the results of the 2020 election and filed lawsuits against China over the coronavirus and against school districts that imposed mask mandates.
But while Schmidt has ties to senators on the right, he has also forged a closer bond with an unlikely colleague, Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire.
The two men have little in common over their politics or legislative priorities, but they both have children with disabilities: Hassan’s son Ben, 35, has severe cerebral palsy, and Schmidt’s son Steven, 19, is non-mute and has tuberous sclerosis, epilepsy and autism.
“We have a special bond that’s hard to explain to others,” Schmidt said of his relationship with Hassan. “We may not vote together on most things, but we have a connection that runs deeper.”
At a time of polarized opinion across the country, Schmitt and Hassan are among several members of Congress who have children with disabilities and have bonded over their shared experiences. The common ground they’ve found is a reminder of the human element of serving in Congress: the time spent away from family, the importance of relationships on Capitol Hill and the personal perspectives they bring to Washington to shape the political and policy agenda.
“People in public office often say this, but the truth is, we have a lot in common,” Hassan said in an interview. “We have similar family stories. We struggle with a lot of the same issues. I hope Americans remember that and stay focused on that.”
For Schmidt, his son’s needs shaped one of his first moments after the inauguration: figuring out how to get his family to the Capitol for the inauguration. Flying would be difficult for Steven, so the family packed their belongings into an SUV and drove 12 hours from the St. Louis area to Washington. Schmidt and Hassan discussed how Hassan has overcome these challenges since becoming a senator and the importance of sharing as many experiences as possible with her children.
“He’s definitely made me a better person,” Schmidt said of Steven, “He’s a really loving kid. If he were here, I wouldn’t know the words, but I’m sure he’d give me a big hug.”
A few months after he was born, Steven was diagnosed with tuberous sclerosis, a rare genetic disease that causes tumors to form throughout the body. His parents noticed a birthmark shaped like an angel’s wing on Steven’s leg, and an MRI scan later revealed tumors in his heart, kidneys, and brain. Steven began having mild seizures when he was a year old, and his condition quickly worsened.
“I’ll never forget the first time I walked into his bedroom and he was still having a seizure,” Schmidt said, calling it one of the most traumatic moments of his life. “Even now, when I walk down that hallway on a beautiful Saturday morning, I sometimes relive that moment and how terrifying it was.”
Steven had to undergo a four-hour procedure that took him to the brink of an artificial coma, and Schmidt recalls a red digital clock on the hospital wall ticking away every second of the 20 minutes doctors had to wait before trying a new drug to stop the seizures.
“That experience caused me to do some soul searching around that time,” Schmidt said. “What should I do? As a father, I wanted to do everything I could for my son, but I felt like there was more I should be doing.”
During his time in the Missouri Senate, Schmitt led numerous legislative victories for people with disabilities, including bills that allowed families of children with disabilities to open tax-free savings accounts to cover future housing, education and other expenses, legislation that would require insurance companies to cover certain behavioral therapies for autism and legalizing CBD oil for medical use by people with epilepsy.
The U.S. Senate has introduced a range of legislative challenges, as well as additional requirements that require people to spend most of the year away from home.
“That’s definitely the hardest part of the job,” Schmidt said.
The Senate is essentially a club known for more bipartisan negotiations than the House, and senators tend to know each other better.
“If you’re willing to work with people and you’re not a jerk, there’s a lot you can do,” Schmidt said. In October, for example, the Senate unanimously passed a bill on commercial space launch that Schmidt co-sponsored with Sen. John Hickenlooper, a Colorado Democrat. Both men serve on the Senate Commerce Committee, and Schmidt said the pair’s collaboration began during early get-togethers that Hickenlooper hosted at his home.
“When you spend that much time with people, you get to know them while you’re fighting an important battle,” Schmidt said.
Hassan, who has served in the Senate since 2017, has focused on expanding support for home and community-based care. Her son, Ben, inspired her to run for Congress and become an advocate for the rights of people with disabilities.
Ben is “funny, smart and charming,” she said in the interview, but his illness means he is in a wheelchair, cannot speak or feed himself, and “requires individualized assistance with all aspects of daily life.”
“During Ben’s early childhood and school years, I not only saw the importance of speaking up for him in those environments, but also the difference that activists, their families, legislative allies and sometimes lawyers have made in moving issues forward and really prioritizing inclusion in a democratic society where everyone should matter,” Hassan said.
Though she and Schmidt have different policy visions, they share hopes and concerns about the path to a more inclusive society. They both “get sick to their stomachs worrying about how they’re going to get home for a caregiving shift, or what’s in store for their kids when they’re older,” she says.
In the House of Representatives, Reps. Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington state and Pete Stauber of Minnesota, both Republicans, have children with Down syndrome. McMorris Rodgers founded the Down Syndrome Caucus after her 16-year-old son, Cole, was born.
“You understand each other, you share experiences, and it really makes you feel like family,” McMorris Rodgers said of the other council members who have children with disabilities. “You definitely build relationships, and you immediately feel like you want to work together.”
Mr. Stauber, who keeps a Barbie doll with Down’s syndrome on display in his Washington office, got teary during the interview as he recalled his son, Isaac, 21, greeting him each day when he came home from his job as a police officer. One of Mr. Stauber’s six children, Isaac has “severe, severe” Down’s syndrome and, like his father, is a fan of ’70s and ’80s rock music.
“I have colleagues on the other side who I don’t agree with politically,” Stauber said, “but we’re not separated by our commitment to supporting the disability community.”
He added: “We hug each other when we need to. It’s a good thing we have in common.”
This mutual understanding has underpinned disability legislation: In 2014, Congress passed a bill spearheaded by McMorris Rodgers that allows people with disabilities and their families to contribute money to tax-free savings accounts modeled after Section 529 education plans.
In recent years, lawmakers have introduced several bills aimed at supporting people with disabilities, some of which have bipartisan support. A proposal led by McMorris Rodgers would integrate people with disabilities into the workforce and ensure they are paid the same minimum wage as non-disabled workers. Hassan has continued to work to increase funding and support for home and community-based care, and she and Stauber are leading the push for legislation to fully fund the federal government’s unfulfilled promise to pay for a portion of the nation’s special education spending.
But Hassan warned that progress was not guaranteed, and she worried that Trump, who has come under fire for his authoritarian rhetoric as well as his comments and policies regarding people with disabilities, posed a threat to democracy.
“I believe the progress we’ve made, whether it’s people with disabilities, people in addiction recovery or other marginalized groups, would not have happened without a democracy in which elected officials are accountable to their constituents,” she said.
This Congress has been deeply unproductive, with the Republican-led House plagued by internal division and dysfunction.
But Hassan remains hopeful.
“Change and inclusion take time and sustained effort, but when we get to it, we get to it together,” she said.