GOP in-fighting so bad some House members want to scrap policy decisions until election
Republicans are trying to reframe their legislative performance since taking over with a range of excuses.
Speaking to the Washington Post, Rep. Blake Moore (R-UT) criticized hardliners who have demanded their way or the highway when passing legislation in the House.
“That’s the part I wish every American can get. That by pretending to be super conservative, by taking down a rule and fighting the establishment … the outcome is, you have less conservative legislation. So that’s okay for you individually. It’s not better for the country,” he said.
The all-or-nothing approach from the far-right means they are standing in the way of conservative legislation, requiring other Republicans to water down bills to get Democratic support to pass it, Republicans who spoke to the Post said.
It echoed a comment from Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX), who told Raw Story last week that there are members who say things like, "It’s better to lose so that we appear that we're fighting."
Another lawmaker said they were ready to give up on policy decisions, and focus on the election instead.
ALSO READ: A neuroscientist explains how Trump is using existential fear to win the election
“My recommendation is we stop trying to bend the policy for the year because there’s really nothing we can do with this majority right now,” said the Republican lawmaker in a swing district. “So, now the focus is on us keeping the majority and figuring our s--- out internally as a family because we may keep the majority, but it may only still be by one to four seats. So we’re going to have this problem.”
There are deadlines before the election that the country faces in which policy decisions are needed, however. On May 11, Congress needs to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration. They also have to figure out how to fund the government for 2025. By Sept. 30, Congress must pass a farm bill reauthorization, which will significantly impact members' own districts in an election year.
Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) explained that the nature of the House and Senate lends itself to bipartisan coalitions and legislation that both sides can agree to. Instead, he said, this year has seen hardliners raging over any agreement.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) has called for a vote to remove Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) from his leadership post. Rep. Tom Massie (R-KY) joined the effort saying that Johnson working with Democrats to pass legislation is unacceptable.
The Post said that Johnson has attempted to bring in the MAGA caucus, but to no avail. In fact, the division is so bad that "when Republicans went to the Texas-Mexico border earlier this year, members of the Freedom Caucus rented their own bus so as not to mingle with the larger group."
"Given the threat looming over Johnson and their inability to compromise, Republicans will probably resort to passing noncontroversial legislation that doesn’t rankle their conference, while also prioritizing possibly cutting federal funds to universities and piecing together an 'election integrity' bill Johnson and former president Donald Trump floated earlier this month. (Voting by undocumented migrants is already illegal in the United States,)" the Post wrote.