House Republicans had big plans. They were going to charge into the majority and pass a series of messaging bills to show the public what great things could be expected from Republican control of government. One of the bills they thought would be an absolute home run was “border security,” or, in translation, anti-immigrant bigotry. It hasn’t worked out that way.
A House Republican bill was never going to pass the Senate or get President Joe Biden’s signature, but they could have waved it like a flag. If they’d been able to get their own votes lined up. Far-right walking penis Rep. Chip Roy has a three-page bill he’s been trying to get support for, but he’s run into opposition from what passes for moderate Republicans these days, who argue it could block migrants with legitimate asylum claims. That is, of course, part of the point of such a bill, so there’s a fundamental conflict.
Kevin McCarthy—who suffered through 15 votes to become speaker of the House in large part because of opposition from Roy and other far-right Republicans—says things are not behind schedule.
“Committees have just now been constituted, not all of them have even been constituted. So I don’t think it’s really an opportunity to say you haven’t acted,” McCarthy told reporters on one of his visits to pose near border walls. “This isn’t my first trip. This is my sixth trip. … So no, Republicans have been taking action. We’ve got a lot of ideas inside Congress.”
I don’t think “not all of our committees have even been constituted” is the flex you think it is, Kevin, when it’s late February and you were supposed to get big things done in January. Also, going to the U.S.-Mexico border to yap about Democrats and pose for pictures is not “taking action.”
One of the moderate Republicans who’s opposing Roy’s bill is Rep. Tony Gonzales, who represents a border district. A Roy staffer even sent around an op-ed attacking Gonzales as a “RINO” who is “helping Joe Biden undermine our border.”
For his part, Gonzales told CNN, “Anyone who thinks a 3 page anti-immigration bill with 0% chance of getting signed into law is going to solve the border crisis should be buying beachfront property in AZ.”
The hostility here may be increased by lingering tension from McCarthy’s speaker battle, during which the so-called moderates watched McCarthy make concession after concession to people like Roy. “There’s deep anger across the conference on the 20 who hurt the team in early January. Deep resentment,” an unnamed Republican lawmaker told CNN. “Folks don’t want to lift a finger for them.”
Whatever happens next, Republicans haven’t gotten the nice clean messaging bill win they were aiming for. They promised to deliver for their base and show independent voters they could get things done. They can’t. They are too disorganized, splintered, suffering from weak leadership, and filled with lawmakers who are mostly looking for their own personal headlines.
What a pity.
Republished with permission from Daily Kos.
