House Republicans Throw Each Other Under the Bus After Epic Failures
What House GOP leadership had hoped would be a victory lap quickly devolved into a mug-slinging contest on Tuesday after the party lost two key votes back to back, first failing to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and, hours later, failing to pass a GOP-led bill to send more U.S. aid to Israel.Since then, Republicans can’t stop taking stabs at one another, slamming each others’ politics following the embarrassing loss.Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene accused Representative Tom McClintock of failing his oath of office by voting against the impeachment effort, adding that the California Republican should “grow some courage and read the room.”“Well, instead of reading the room, I’d suggest that maybe she read the Constitution she took an oath to support and defend,” McClintock told C-SPAN’s Washington Journal.“That Constitution very clearly lays out the grounds for impeachment,” he continued. “This dumbs down those grounds dramatically and would set a precedent that could be turned against the conservatives on the Supreme Court or a future Republican administration the moment the Democrats take control of the Congress.”Four House Republicans joined Democrats in voting against Mayorkas’s impeachment, resulting in a stunning 216–214 upset. One of them, Utah Representative Blake Moore, changed his vote at the last minute, ultimately siding with the liberal party to avoid a tie. Representative Mike Gallagher told Hugh Hewitt that his “no” vote shouldn’t have surprised GOP leadership, noting that the caucus didn’t need to barrel into the vote and “embarrass themselves when the math wasn’t there,” reported Olivia Beavers.“I whipped no for over a month,” Gallagher said.Over the last several months, Republicans have worked overtime to make a crisis out of the border without actually working to solve it. Republican governors are going toe to toe with federal agents along the Rio Grande section of the southern border, backing Texas’s defiance of a Supreme Court order to remove haphazardly placed concertina wire that effectively prevents federal border agents from doing their jobs. And on Monday, House Speaker Mike Johnson reiterated that the bipartisan Senate border package would be “dead on arrival” in the House, instead insisting that the extreme, asylum-limiting bill proposed by House Republicans, H.R. 2, would be the only path forward.“I understand some Republicans are saying we don’t need any changes to the law. Then why did we write H.R. 2? Why did we do that?” lamented Texas Representative Dan Crenshaw to C-SPAN after all the failed votes Tuesday. “Why didn’t Trump just shut down the border, if you think we just don’t need any changes to the law? He couldn’t! He had to make a deal with Mexico.”Crenshaw: I understand some Republicans are saying we don’t need any changes to the law. Then why did we write HR 2? Why didn’t Trump just shut down the border? He couldn’t pic.twitter.com/NbaUIMiCgr— Acyn (@Acyn) February 7, 2024Meanwhile, Democrats were quick to rub salt in the wound. Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who advanced several major policy wins during her tenure at the top of the lower chamber, hopped on MSNBC to remind conservatives how to govern.“Don’t bring a bill to the floor unless you know you have the votes,” Pelosi beamed. “And in order to know you have the votes, you have to have some in your pocket.”
What House GOP leadership had hoped would be a victory lap quickly devolved into a mug-slinging contest on Tuesday after the party lost two key votes back to back, first failing to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and, hours later, failing to pass a GOP-led bill to send more U.S. aid to Israel.
Since then, Republicans can’t stop taking stabs at one another, slamming each others’ politics following the embarrassing loss.
Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene accused Representative Tom McClintock of failing his oath of office by voting against the impeachment effort, adding that the California Republican should “grow some courage and read the room.”
“Well, instead of reading the room, I’d suggest that maybe she read the Constitution she took an oath to support and defend,” McClintock told C-SPAN’s Washington Journal.
“That Constitution very clearly lays out the grounds for impeachment,” he continued. “This dumbs down those grounds dramatically and would set a precedent that could be turned against the conservatives on the Supreme Court or a future Republican administration the moment the Democrats take control of the Congress.”
Four House Republicans joined Democrats in voting against Mayorkas’s impeachment, resulting in a stunning 216–214 upset. One of them, Utah Representative Blake Moore, changed his vote at the last minute, ultimately siding with the liberal party to avoid a tie.
Representative Mike Gallagher told Hugh Hewitt that his “no” vote shouldn’t have surprised GOP leadership, noting that the caucus didn’t need to barrel into the vote and “embarrass themselves when the math wasn’t there,” reported Olivia Beavers.
“I whipped no for over a month,” Gallagher said.
Over the last several months, Republicans have worked overtime to make a crisis out of the border without actually working to solve it. Republican governors are going toe to toe with federal agents along the Rio Grande section of the southern border, backing Texas’s defiance of a Supreme Court order to remove haphazardly placed concertina wire that effectively prevents federal border agents from doing their jobs. And on Monday, House Speaker Mike Johnson reiterated that the bipartisan Senate border package would be “dead on arrival” in the House, instead insisting that the extreme, asylum-limiting bill proposed by House Republicans, H.R. 2, would be the only path forward.
“I understand some Republicans are saying we don’t need any changes to the law. Then why did we write H.R. 2? Why did we do that?” lamented Texas Representative Dan Crenshaw to C-SPAN after all the failed votes Tuesday. “Why didn’t Trump just shut down the border, if you think we just don’t need any changes to the law? He couldn’t! He had to make a deal with Mexico.”
Crenshaw: I understand some Republicans are saying we don’t need any changes to the law. Then why did we write HR 2? Why didn’t Trump just shut down the border? He couldn’t pic.twitter.com/NbaUIMiCgr— Acyn (@Acyn) February 7, 2024
Meanwhile, Democrats were quick to rub salt in the wound. Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who advanced several major policy wins during her tenure at the top of the lower chamber, hopped on MSNBC to remind conservatives how to govern.
“Don’t bring a bill to the floor unless you know you have the votes,” Pelosi beamed. “And in order to know you have the votes, you have to have some in your pocket.”
