Why Would Anyone Pay For More Chaos & Dysfunction?
House Republicans barely avoided a government shutdown Monday— and only by making a deal with Hakeem Jeffries to provide the votes needed to pass a short-term CR today that will take a two-thirds vote under suspension of the rules. And why? Because the far right-fringe of the House GOP wants to shut the government down and their 3 members on the Rules Committee— Ralph Norman (R-SC), Chip Roy (R-TX) and Thomas Massie (R-KY)— refused to support MAGA Mike’s request to allow the CR to come to the floor for a vote.
This week, as every recent week, FiveThirtyEight, as all the polling aggregators, shows the congressional generic polling question has the Democrats ahead— 46.7% to 44.5%. The NRCC is crying poverty and they re far behind the DCCC in fundraising. But they refuse to look at what donors are seeing when they look at their two years leading Congress— in effect, a clear demonstration that the Republican Party is deeply divided and unable to unify around a coherent legislative agenda. And that these divisions have crippled the party’s ability to pass significant legislation or govern effectively. The infighting between mainstream conservatives and far-right extremists (fascists) has created a toxic environment in the House, where consensus is impossible, and progress is a distant dream. Even basic governance has become impossible. The constant chaos, infighting, and inability to pass meaningful legislation make it clear that the Republican majority is not fit to govern. They have proven, time and time again, that they are more interested in pursuing ideological purity and political warfare than in serving the needs of the country or the American people.
The 118th Congress has been debilitated by their endless leadership crises. The battle to elect Kevin McCarthy as Speaker in early 2023 epitomized the dysfunction. McCarthy faced 15 rounds of voting, the most since 1859, as the fascists within the Conference demanded power and concessions, which McCarthy gave them— facilitating his own eventual ouster a few months later, the first time a Speaker was removed in U.S. history, further destabilized the House, leaving it leaderless for weeks. This instability impeded legislative progress and brought Congress to a standstill. Republicans then struggled to elect a replacement, Jim Jordan and Steve Scalise failing to secure enough support, further underscoring internal discord. It wasn’t until an obscure figure, Mike Johnson, was anointed by Trump as MAGA Mike and elected… and even less capable of governing than McCarthy. The party has been unable to unify around a budget, nearly leading to multiple government shutdowns. Their approach to negotiating on key spending issues has often been erratic and driven by a far-right faction that is unwilling to compromise, not only with Democrats but also with mainstream conservatives. The debate over the debt ceiling last year was a prime example of GOP dysfunction, using the threat of default as leverage to push extreme budget cuts, bringing the U.S. economy to the brink of crisis. This reckless approach damaged public confidence in the party’s ability to manage fiscal policy responsibly, something non-fascist donors noticed.
The Conference has been held hostage by its most extreme members— the Freedom Caucus and these lunatic hardliners have repeatedly derailed legislation and blocked compromise, even when it was in the party's best interest. On issues ranging from immigration to military spending, they’ve pursued an obstructionist agenda that has prevented the GOP from passing meaningful legislation. Just this week, they forced the House to agree to shortchange the VA by $12 billion that House Dems were pushing for and then immediately nix including disaster aid in the CR… just as hurricane season is getting started. The Freedom Caucus’ outsized influence has made governance virtually impossible, as they continually threaten to undermine leadership and obstruct bipartisan efforts. Their influence has alienated mainstream conservatives and the general public, who view the party as increasingly out of touch with mainstream American concerns. Instead of focusing on policy solutions that address the real problems Americans face, the House Republican majority has devoted almost all of its time to political theater— launching partisan investigations into Biden and his family, attempting to dismantle the Department of Justice for prosecuting Trump, creating culture war controversies over “woke” policies… it’s all spectacle over substance, led by polarizing figures like Marjorie Traitor Greene, Lauren Boebert, Matt Gaetz…
The numerous failed attempts to impeach Biden are emblematic of this. They’ve wasted legislative time and taxpayer money on political stunts designed to please the MAGA base while neglecting pressing issues like infrastructure, healthcare, and climate change. These actions have deepened the perception that the GOP is more interested in scoring political points than in governing responsibly. So they’ve made virtually no progress on the key issues facing the country, not even their own priorities. On healthcare, they’ve offered no serious solutions to lower costs or expanding access, focusing instead on repealing the Affordable Care Act, which they have yet to replace. On immigration, their approach has been punitive and ineffective, failing to provide a coherent plan to address the complex challenges at the southern border. The House GOP’s refusal to even consider comprehensive immigration reform shows their disinterest in solving real problems. On climate change and infrastructure, Republicans have largely been obstructionist, opposing efforts to invest in green energy and sustainable development. Their regressive stance is out of step with the priorities of most Americans and is putting the country at a disadvantage in relation to our economic rivals.
When House Republicans ask for money, donors see dysfunction, chaos, an embrace of extremism and a preference for divisive political theater over policymaking. Yesterday, Melanie Zanona, Jake Sherman, Andrew Desiderio and Max Cohen reported that, on top of that, though Kamala transferred $10 million to the DCCC, Señor T hasn’t given the NRCC “one red cent. Trump also has yet to appear at a major fundraising event for the NRCC, leaving a huge, eight-figure hole in the committee’s budget. Meanwhile, the Republican National Committee [a Trump appendage run by his daughter-in-law] hasn’t given to the House GOP’s campaign arm all cycle.”
Senior House GOP leaders, including MAGA Mike and NRCC chair Richard Hudson have been trying to get Trump’s help— but to no avail. They’re now trying to enlist Trump’s weirdo running mate to speak an NRCC event instead— if Elise Stefanik can talk Trump into letting him do it.
“It’s overly simplistic,” wrote Zanona, Sherman, Desiderio and Cohen, “to say that Trump is the cause of the NRCC’s fundraising issues. The GOP campaign committee has $70 million in the bank. By comparison, the DCCC has $87 million in the bank. The DCCC also is routinely outraising the GOP. In August, the DCCC raised $22 million and the NRCC raked in just $9.7 million. Trump, of course, has his own fundraising woes. Harris is routinely outraising the former president. Various Trump-related entities are helping pay his legal bills. In other words, money isn’t plentiful for any Republican. But the NRCC has counted on Trump’s fundraising capacity in the past. Trump’s appearance at the 2018 NRCC spring dinner raked in $32 million. In 2019, Trump raised the NRCC $23 million. In 2021, Trump spoke at an NRCC dinner in Tampa, Fla., which raised $17 million.”
Notice the hauls have progressively shrunk, but those amounts are still something. “Soon it will be too late,” they wrote. “There are just 41 days left until the election.” There are already two members virtually dead in the water, who no amount of money will save: Brandon Williams in the Syracuse area and Anthony D’Esposito in Nassau County. But teworries don’t stop there. Other Republican incumbents who look unlikely to survive November, despite, in most cases, poor Democratic candidate quality:
Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-OR)
Michelle Steel (R-CA)
Mike Garcia (R-CA)
David Schweikert (R-AZ)
Don Bacon (R-NE)
David Valadao (R-CA)
Tom Kean (R-NJ)
John Duarte (R-CA)
Zach Nunn (R-IA)
Marc Molinaro (R-NY)
Juan Ciscomani (R-AZ)
Scott Perry (R-PA)
John James (R-MI)
Ken Calvert (R-CA)
Will it make a difference? The Democratic candidates are largely nothing to write home about. I can count the good ones on the fingers of one hand— and that’s with a very generous definition of “good.” But they don’t menace democracy itself and they aren’t going to do another version of the institutional GOP dysfunction. For example, while everyone HATES the Republican healthcare proposals, the Democrats actually want to improve it— not enough, but a bit. Medicare for All? Not the DCCC Democrats. Medicare protection? Yes. Look at the Republican healthcare agenda and how people react to it:
And at least Democratic candidates aren’t that. And if you want to help some of the actual good ones flip seats… you can do that here. Here are three who couldn't be more different from their self-centered Republican opponents, talking about healthcare:
Progressive Floridian Thomas Witkop told us he “didn't realize they (Republicans) even had Health Care proposals. Mast loves to attack the Affordable Care Act because he's in the pocket of giant insurance companies who want to increase the price of prescription drugs and insulin on hardworking Americans. Mast (and other politicians in it for mega-billionaires and special interests) want to eviscerate the ACA and replace it with a much more expensive plan that puts Americans at the mercy of predatory insurers. People I talk to around here want to see Medicare expanded— eyes, ears, dental... mental!”
Similarly, Derek Marshall, running against anti-healthcare reactionary Jay Obernolte, said ““Republicans have consistently pushed for policies that prioritize insurance companies over patients, such as trying to dismantle the Affordable Care Act without offering a viable alternative. Their approach leaves millions of Americans vulnerable to losing their coverage and facing higher costs for essential care, which is why they're out of step with the needs of the people.”
From his lived experience, growing up in Appalachian eastern Ohio, Jerrad Christian is very aware how much people in his district would like more coverage, not less— certainly for dental, eyes and ears, which Medicare doesn’t cover. “The GOP's health care proposals,” he told us last night, “are out of touch with reality and what Americans actually need. Letting insurers deny coverage or charge more for pre-existing conditions means leaving those who need care most out in the cold. Blocking Medicare from negotiating lower drug prices does nothing but protect Big Pharma’s profits, all while people struggle to afford their medications. Penalizing folks for lapses in coverage, which are usually caused by financial hardship in the first place, only amplifies the damage when those same hardships make it even harder to afford health insurance. Lifetime and annual caps on coverage just add another layer of stress for people with chronic conditions who rely on steady care. It's not hard to see why these ideas are so widely opposed— they make a bad situation worse. Cutting federal health care funding and fewer regulations on insurance companies don't make sense. These programs and protections are here to keep health care within reach for all Americans. Trying to make abortion not part of health care policy ignores the reality that it is health care, period. And pushing stricter work requirements for Medicaid punishes people who are already struggling— whether it’s a disability, a caregiving role, or any other barrier. It's obvious that the policies Republican leadership are proposing only benefit the wealthy and leave the rest of us to struggle and die.”