House Sent Home Early as Feud Grips GOP Caucus

WASHINGTON — House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., sent House members home early on Wednesday after a revolt by nearly a dozen conservative Republicans brought action in the chamber to a standstill.

The “chaos” as McCarthy called it at one point during a news conference yesterday was the result of a revolt by members of the House Freedom Caucus that put a wrench in a routine procedural vote and promptly tossed the week’s schedule of votes into disarray.

The group stymying this week’s House agenda consists of the same conservative Republicans who tried to block passage of the debt ceiling bill last week and suggested they might be ready to oust McCarthy as speaker after President Joe Biden signed the bill, which prevented a U.S. default on its bills, into law.

“Our message to Speaker McCarthy is simple: he has to be in a monogamous relationship with one coalition or the other,” said Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., via Twitter on Wednesday.

“He can’t parade around with House conservatives on his arm for five months, and then jump in the backseat with Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries when he wants to do a $4 trillion debt limit deal,” Gaetz said.

Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., another member of the faction in revolt, said via Twitter that she was shocked to hear Congress was being sent home for the weekend because dissenters were holding the floor.

“We do not need to leave D.C. early because messaging bills are not coming to the House floor,” Boebert said. 

“We still have committee work to do, which includes holding [FBI] Director Christopher Wray in contempt of Congress. Are we going to get serious about holding these people accountable or not?” she continued. “The American people are waiting on results!”

Boebert was referring to a controversy over whether Wray and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas would testify before the House Judiciary Committee.

However, that controversy has since largely been resolved as both men have agreed to sit before the panel before Congress’ August recess.

For his part, McCarthy seemed a bit surprised by the uprising, though he told reporters that with just a five-seat majority in the chamber, “anybody can disrupt any bill we do.”

He also conceded, “There are numerous different things they’re frustrated about, so we’ll listen to them.”

“I think we’ll get through it,” he said at another point.

“We can’t hold up the work for the American people,” McCarthy said.

Hardline Republicans accuse McCarthy of sacrificing the unity of the Republican conference by turning to Democrats to pass the debt limit bill by a 314-117 vote.

In the end, 71 Republicans and 46 Democrats balked and voted against the bill.

Not everyone blames McCarthy and his deal-making with the president for all of the dissent that descended over the Republican conference this week.

Some are taking aim at House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., who they say has botched the handling of recent votes that were important to the conservatives, including a procedural motion that could have blocked or at least slowed passage of the debt ceiling bill, and a vote on a separate bill that would have blocked the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives from regulating pistol braces, legislation that is important to the gun lobby.

Scalise has said the gun-rights bill will be voted on next Tuesday.

In the meantime, he acknowledged “there’s a lot of anger being expressed” by Republican members.

Among those watching from the sidelines was Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., who was the House Majority Leader in the last Congress.

“The Democratic-run 117th Congress was one of the most productive Congresses not only in which I have served but in our nation’s history,” Hoyer said in a statement provided to The Well News.

“Despite our four-vote margin, Democrats stood together and enacted a transformational policy agenda to Invest in America. Now, as the last few months have shown, House Republicans are incapable of running the Floor with the same margin,” he said.

“From needing 15 ballots to elect a Speaker to nearly forcing America into a devastating default to meet the demands of their party’s extreme MAGA Members, House Republicans remain beholden to the whims of their most radical Members,” Hoyer continued.

“This week, their rampant infighting prevented the House from passing a simple procedural motion. Democrats made – and maintain – a commitment to put People Over Politics, and I urge the deeply divided Republicans to work with Democrats to reopen the Floor and deliver for the American people,” he said.

Dan can be reached at [email protected] and at https://twitter.com/DanMcCue