All posts tagged "house gop"

'Like herding quail': Bush strategist slams House GOPers he says will scatter in 2024

Former President George W. Bush's chief campaign strategist Wednesday compared House Republicans to a flock of birds he predicts aren't going to fly in formation in 2024.

"It's a caucus like herding quail," Matthew Dowd told MSNBC host Richard Lui. "And you can't herd quail because they're all over the place."

This comment came on the heels of a revelation from Lui that the Republican House has passed just 3.5 percent of the bills they introduced in 2023, and a question as to whether Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) would ultimately be able to "knock some heads together."

Dowd said no.

"The problem that Johnson has, and you can question him as a leader and all that, as I have, the problem is his caucus," he explained. "They all have different viewpoints."

The viewpoints may differ, but Dowd believes the object of their gaze will likely be the same in 2024: former President Donald Trump.

ALSO READ: Trump’s Iowa Faith Leader Coalition includes bigots, advocate of killing Obama

"[Johnson] has to not only deal with an unruly caucus, he has to deal with this sort of unstoppable, disruptive force of Donald Trump that he'll have to face throughout 2024," Dowd said. "I think he's in an untenable position."

Liu then asked Pollster and political analyst Cornell Belcher what Democrats and President Joe Biden should do to work with the difficult GOP caucus in the months to follow.

Belcher laughed.

"The problem that the Republicans have is the don't actually put forward anything they want to actually accomplish that has large support of the American people," he said, "that have no widespread popularity."

See the video below or at the link here.

- YouTubeyoutu.be

House GOPers itching to impeach Biden but still lack the votes: report

House Republicans are digging into the sofa cushions for votes to impeach President Joe Biden.

A formal impeachment of the president is all ready to go forward, but for the fact that there aren't enough votes to back the move, according to a CNN report citing multiple senior GOP sources.

The effort is to fortify their stance against the White House and the president’s son Hunter, as they find pushback in their requests to secure critical documents and testimony to back up their accusations that he acted improperly.

Come January, the House is preparing to bring a vote to authorize Republicans' Biden impeachment.

The plan was hatched during a closed-door meeting with GOP leaders on Wednesday, a source told The AP.

“Constituents back home are getting antsy, ‘What are you doing,’ Rep. Barry Loudermilk told CNN. "You know, so that can give some people something to say, ‘Well I voted for the impeachment inquiry.’"

A longtime opponent of impeaching Biden, Colorado Republican Rep. Ken Buck, who isn't seeking reelection, told CNN his stance is unmoved.

ALSO READ: ‘Ridiculed by many’: Rep. Dean Phillips is the Dem presidential candidate no Dem wants

“I have not seen any evidence to change my position,” said Buck. “I will ask for any new evidence and sit down with investigators, if they’re willing.”

So far, two swing state Republicans, GOP Reps. Nick LaLota of New York and Don Bacon of Nebraska who don't appear to be supportive of an impeachment, told CNN they see nothing wrong with an inquiry vote.

A lot of the weight on moving the impeachment forward rests on the shoulders of House Speaker Mike Johnson.

The former member of the House Judiciary Committee appears to be seen as gun shy to recruit more Republicans to push for a formal inquiry.

North Carolina Rep. Dan Bishop said it's a tricky position.

“You can have a touch that is so soft that you simply are standing in the middle of the road. That will not do him any good. It will not do any good for the Republican conference or the Republican voter, or the American people. He’s going to have to apply himself and move people along,” he told the outlet.

Biden's been accused of enriching himself from Hunter's business ventures while he was serving in the White House as President Obama's vice president between 2009 and 2017.

The House Oversight Committee contends that Biden mingled with Hunter's business associates during those years and let him tag along on official overseas trips.

'Accept that reality': Ex-GOP rep. predicts Republicans will need Dems to end infighting

Former Pennsylvania Republican congressman Charlie Dent is letting it be known that for the House to get in order they need to reach over the aisle with an olive branch.

"The House Republican Conference is deeply fractured," he said during an appearance on MSNBC's "Alex Wagner Tonight." "I've been saying for sometime now that Hakeem Jeffries is going to probably have to come in and help solve this problem."

Dent explained that to get to some semblance of business as usual, his friends must start working with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and fellow Dems and cede some of the political sway.

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"They need basically a bipartisan solution, and a power-sharing agreement," said Dent. "What I mean by that is they need to run somebody -- it could be Patrick McHenry -- they empower him on a temporary basis; I think they could have some Democratic votes."

House Republicans appeared to have floated just that: to empower Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC) as temporary speaker of the House.

But that strategy was declared "dead" as of Thursday.

Dent then suggested that it's going to take them electing a more "pragmatic, institutionalist Republican" and "not an election denier."

He then believes that the committees will need to be split "evenly" so both parties share equal representation.

Should any of the Republicans want to throw some salt on Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), whose three tries to get to 217 votes kept laying eggs -- they could strip him of running the House Judicial Committee.

"If they want to put it to Jordan, maybe give the Democrats a share of the judiciary committee just for fun," he said with a grin.

Dent point blank said that Republicans are going to need Jeffries and the Democratic votes to essentially right this ship.

"Jeffries, he's had to help them on the debt ceiling, the budget agreement, as well as the recent continuing resolution to fund the government," he explained. "They're going to need his help again. They might as well just accept that reality because I don't see any particular member right now getting 217 votes from Republicans only."

He said that Rep. Tom Emmer (R-MN) "has a shot" but then made it clear that there needs to be some kind of urgency and compromise because time is ticking.

"Whoever the Republicans were to elect, is going to have to go around and cut a deal by November 17th to fund the government."

Again this means bringing in Jeffries "to help" and likely at a high political cost.

"That individual will probably suffer the same fate as did McCarthy."

Watch the video below or click here.

GOP antics could cause 'mass staff exodus' of House workers: reporters

Multiple congressional reporters warned on Thursday that the ongoing chaos in the House Republican conference could soon drive a wave of resignations among congressional staff.

This comes as Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), who previously was on the verge of at least temporarily bowing out of the speaker race after losing two ballots, said that he's going to try for a new vote over the weekend.

"From a GOP staffer in response to the news of weekend votes… 'I see a mass staff exodus from the House if this doesn’t resolve soon. Staff have lives and families too,'" Punchbowl News' Mica Soellner posted on X. Another GOP aide reportedly reacted in fury to this, telling her, “Nobody would even notice if you exited politics... Stop whining about having to do your job. Imagine having a front row seat to history and complaining you didn’t get to go apple picking this weekend.”

POLL: Should Trump be allowed to run for office?

NBC News' Ali Vitali, however, confirmed the threat of an exodus is real.

"This is actually a real concern that I’ve heard from sources recently and would be so bad for the institution," she posted to the same platform. "For people who come here to work on policy and make change, this isn’t what they signed up for."

Republicans and some Democrats have been toying for days with the idea of putting the speaker vote on hold and empowering Speaker Pro Tem Patrick McHenry (R-NC) to conduct House business for at least a few months.

However, Jordan went back on this following backlash from his allies and supporters, and quickly went back to trying to whip votes in his favor, although as of the last whip count, 22 Republicans voted against him, and some expect that number to grow on a third ballot. The situation has deteriorated rapidly, with Republicans shouting at each other behind closed doors and Jordan supporters sending death threats and harassment to members who voted against him.

'Chaos doesn’t scare me': Matt Gaetz doubles down after upending House leadership

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) helped catalyze the current Republican House meltdown, by leading the charge to call a vote to dismiss House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-FL), upending most business in Congress and paralyzing the House as Republicans fight over who to elect in his place.

But Gaetz is completely unapologetic about his actions, as he made clear in a post to X on Thursday afternoon.

"Ever seen a SWAMP actually drained? This Florida Man has. It’s not orderly," he wrote. "Turns out, the alligators & snakes get unruly when the comfort of their habitat is disrupted. Chaos doesn’t scare me. American decline does. Our fight continues."

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"Thank you for having my back!" Gaetz added.

The path forward for Republicans is unclear. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) was previously nominated for speaker, but dropped out just a day later as far-right members declared their opposition to his candidacy as well. Then Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), a Freedom Caucus firebrand and the chair of the Judiciary Committee, was nominated in his place, but he has failed two rounds of voting.

One other possibility would be giving temporary powers to Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick McHenry (R-NC) while Republicans work out their leadership issues in the background. Some Republicans have backed this proposal; however, Gaetz and several others have opposed it, and Jordan, after briefly endorsing the idea, reversed course after backlash from his supporters and is planning another speakership voting round.

'Monkeys flinging poo and screeching': Ex-GOP lawmaker slams House Republicans

Former Rep. Denver Riggleman (R-VA) tore into his former party on MSNBC Friday night, over their decision to advance a speakership nomination for House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan (R-OH).

"What does it tell you that this is a Republican Party that took the very unusual step, with a narrow margin, of siding with Democrats to oust its leader and now can't find a new one?" said anchor Ari Melber.

"It's — I can't even say it's unbelievable anymore," said Riggleman, who previously served as an adviser to the House January 6 Select Committee. "When you look at what's happening behind the conference... the screaming that was going on, I almost wonder, Ari, it's like monkeys flinging poo and screeching."

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"The conference you were once in," said Melber, as Riggleman laughed and concurred. "I don't know how you self-identify within the zoo analogy, but carry on."

"I think people forget that on the night of January 5th, at 11pm, Jordan sends a bizarre text to Mark Meadows that was actually a bit of a copy-paste from a document from Joseph Schmidt, former DOD inspector general, that uses sources from a newspaper like The Epoch Times, and the incredible Peter Navarro, and the sources on the page or on how to overturn the election," said Riggleman. "That's what Jim Jordan used to text to Mark Meadows that night. People are forgetting how involved Jordan was in this January 6th push."

"Let me slow you down," said Melber. "There are many ways to look at different people who could become speaker. Ideology and politics is one of them. People say, oh this person is more or less conservative in the Republican Party. You are saying the fact that this many, or a majority of Republicans today, Friday, are considering Jordan for speaker is concerning because of his record, not an ideology per se, but on evidence that he was part of an effort to overthrow the lawful win of an election?"

"Yeah," said Riggleman. "I think it's a bit both an ideology, but yeah. How do you have, in this time, and everybody knows about January 6th, you could have a complete Republican leadership, all three, we're talking about the speaker, the Majority Leader, and the whip, that all voted to overturn the election, or were actively involved in trying to coordinate overturning the election. And to me, knowing what I know about January 6th, knowing about the data that we have seen, all of Meadows' text messages, how Jordan was part of it all, we had 155 on the second vote that voted for Jim Jordan for speaker ... that, and I think it's shocking to me seeing that the GOP has gone this far. I knew it was going to get worse, but I didn't think it would be this bad. You have 155 people voting for an election denier for Speaker of the House."

Watch the video below or at the link here.

Denver Riggleman says GOP caucus is like "monkeys flinging poo and screeching"www.youtube.com

Far-right lawmaker buried in hometown newspaper over vote for 'chaos'

Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ), one of eight Republicans who voted to oust Kevin McCarthy as House speaker earlier this week, was torched in The Arizona Republic by E.J. Montini for trying to pretend he didn't vote for "chaos."

"When it comes to the aftermath of ousting Republican Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, Arizona Rep. Andy Biggs disagrees with … everybody," wrote Montini. Even former House Speaker Newt Gingrich effectively called Biggs and his cohorts "traitors," Montini noted, saying, "Ninety-six percent of Republicans voted for McCarthy. 4% voted against him. From my position as a longtime Republican activist, they are traitors. All eight of them should, in fact, be primaried. They should all be driven out of public life. What they did was go to the other team to cause utter chaos."

Biggs, speaking to constituents, denied that — but no one is really buying that, wrote Montini.

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“I would fundamentally disagree with that premise. We’re not in chaos right now,” said Biggs in a video addressing questions he's received from voters. "He said that removing McCarthy was 'done by the book.' He said, 'It may be not pretty. It may seem conflictual,' but added, 'I think things are moving along,'" wrote Montini. "Just about everyone in Washington — and everywhere else — would disagree with him. But I don’t believe that’s an unusual situation for Biggs."

With the speaker ousted, normal business in the House is effectively paralyzed until a new speaker is selected. Top candidates for that role appear to be House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) and House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-OH).

Montini concluded by noting that Biggs said he can't name who he would want to be House speaker in McCarthy's place, because that person would "be immediately disqualified" among many GOP lawmakers by his endorsement. "Imagine that," wrote Montini. "Imagine being part of a collective like the House Republican caucus in which your opinion carries that much negative weight."

'Everybody’s ready to go home': House Republicans complain that they really need a vacation

After being together working for seven weeks, House Republicans are reportedly desperate to be away from one another.

Republican lawmakers have talked openly about how badly they need a break, and about their priorities for when they return, according to a Politico report from Friday. The report says the representatives are leaving for the break Friday amid tensions between moderate Republicans and those on the far right of the GOP.

"Those tensions have worsened thanks to the House’s marathon springtime session, which has seen lawmakers in Washington every week since early May," the article states. "Rep. Ann Wagner (R-Mo.) captured the mood on Wednesday, getting caught on a hot mic after a colleague checked in on her during a Foreign Affairs Committee hearing: 'Seven straight weeks, this is not healthy,' she said."

Wagner reportedly continued, in jest, adding that:

“I hate Republicans. I hate Democrats. I hate my staff. My staff hates me. Seven weeks is not good... John Boehner would have never put up with this. He thought if we were together for more than four weeks, then you know — I guess that is why we are all doing all this stupid s--t.”

Politico also reported that those in the House were bringing in suitcases, Corona, and even a dog carrier in their urge to leave.

"As the first vote languished for over 20 minutes, some members tried to speed things up themselves. (Wagner jokingly yelled “Shame!” as the minutes ticked by, with colleagues laughing alongside her.) First-term Rep. Nick Langworthy (R-N.Y.) put it more bluntly. When asked on a scale of 1 to 10 how ready members were to return to their districts, he replied: 'Eleven,'" Politico reported. "Rep. Frank Lucas (R-Okla.) said Congress, 'in some ways, is kind of like high school. Every so often, the kids need to get on the bus and go home.'"