House Republicans stew over members who caused upheaval

House Republicans are stewing over a lack of consequences for those in their ranks who were at the center of much of the internal upheaval that dominated last year — and bemoaning incentives that some worry reward being loud over being substantive.

After enduring a year with two drawn-out Speaker fights and other battles that spilled out onto the House floor, the slim House GOP majority is showing no signs of disciplining the rabble-rousers. And even as the hard-line Republicans at the center of the fights stand by their moves, members known for their behind-the-scenes productivity are heading for the exits.

The frustration, while no longer as prominent as during flashpoints over the last year, lingers.

“For a body that creates laws for the American people to live by, Congress lives in a lawless society to where members can do whatever they would like that goes against conference rules, and still have the ability to maintain the committee assignments — to still get, you know, whether it’s fundraising or extra dollars from leaders wherever it may be,” Rep. Max Miller (R-Ohio) said.

Rep. Max Miller (R-Ohio) arrives for a House Republican Conference meeting to select the next candidate for Speaker of the House on Wednesday, October 11, 2023. (Mattie Neretin)

During the three weeks in October when frustrated Republicans struggled to elect a new Speaker, calls swirled to remove from committees or the GOP conference the eight Republicans who joined with Democrats to oust former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.). So did a discussion about changing the rule that allowed any one member to force a vote on ousting the Speaker.

Seven of the eight at one point offered themselves up to be punished if holdouts against Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) voted to make him Speaker. 

But as Republicans sought to move forward from the dysfunction under the leadership of Speaker Mike Johnson (La.), talk of imposing punishment fell off. 

And in the weeks that followed, actions on the House floor showed that some Republicans, having just gone through a historic Speaker fight, still had no fear of upending their party’s schedule or plans.

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They forced votes through privileged resolutions to formally reprimand other members and to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. Hard-line conservatives pushed their colleagues to adopt aggressive amendments on must-pass spending bills and torpedoed votes on legislation if they were not considered.

“When you discipline people, they learn from their mistakes. I mean, it’s called life. And if you don’t discipline people and members of Congress, you’re gonna get this result, which is privileged resolutions being brought to the floor every day, taking cabinet secretaries down to $1 — I mean, this isn’t helping the American people,” Miller said.

Even one of the eight Republicans who voted to oust McCarthy acknowledged that his party does not naturally impose discipline.

“Democrats are good at carrot and the stick — you know, we reward you with the carrot or we hit you with the stick. We’re not very good at that as Republicans,” Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) said. “We’re independent. We go out to do our thing.” 

Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) addresses reporters during a press conference on Thursday, November 30, 2023 to discuss accessibility to Unidentified Aerial Phenomena information. (Mattie Neretin)

Sometimes, Burchett says, “that creates a problem” with finding consensus.  

“But I don’t think it was supposed to be some rah, rah, cheering section,” he said.

Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), another one of the eight, disagreed with characterizing 2023 as chaotic for House Republicans, as many of his colleagues have.

“It might have just been a little bit more public … There might be bruised egos, bruised feelings,” Biggs said, noting that tense internal dramas aren’t uncommon — they just usually play out behind closed doors.

“I remember [Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.)] almost didn’t get elected Speaker by the Squad because … she had to have the Squad’s vote and cut a last-minute deal.”

Some GOP members frustrated with their conservative colleagues point to social media and television providing perverse incentives for House members — privately scoffing at those who are ever-present on TV and phone screens while many of those behind substantive lawmaking are largely unseen.

“It’s always a small group of people that do all the tough things, right? That’s life, that’s everywhere. It’s more dramatic here,” said Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.), a senior appropriator.

But that dynamic has been exacerbated, Diaz-Balart said, by cable news.

“The folks that you see on TV all day are the ones that don’t get anything done. They’re on TV all day,” said Diaz-Balart. 

Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.), a McCarthy ally and the chair of the House Financial Services Committee who is leaving Congress at the end of his term, blamed social media for exacerbating the difficulties in the House.

“The goal here is to be a legislator. If you want to be a social media star, just go do that,” McHenry said in December. “But if you want to hold office, whether it’s the Senate, the house, the White House, you want to be about effectuating a better outcome for the Americans, and the way you do that is change public law.”

House Financial Services Chairman Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) speaks during a hearing to discuss the semi-annual report of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection Bureau from Director Rohit Chopra on Wednesday, November 29, 2023. (Mattie Neretin)

The problem, McHenry suggested, is partly that Congress has not effectively adapted to the change in technology and incentives.

“Right now our institutions are in flux because we have this massive, fast change. And our institutions haven’t adapted fast enough,” McHenry said. “We have to have people that are going to be focused on the work, not the externalities of the work.”

On the flip side, hardliners point to a lack of will among enough rank-and-file and moderate Republicans to play hardball — risking lapsed deadlines or a government shutdown in order to get what they want.

Those tactics appear likely to continue into 2024.

Another one of the eight lawmakers who voted to oust McCarthy, Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.), has been elevated to be the chair of the House Freedom Caucus — the influential hard-line conservative group whose members are often at the center of public interparty disputes and rebellion against GOP leadership. 

His election did not come without some internal drama, though. Fellow Freedom Caucus member Rep. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio) resigned from the group’s board in part because of Good’s election. He wrote in a letter reported by Axios that he was concerned the group relies too much on hard power and “too little on influence with and among our colleagues.”

Good, by contrast, is leaning into the hard-line tactics the group is known for — saying before the holiday break that Republicans have to be “willing to withstand a potential partial government shutdown to try to force the Democrats to negotiate.”

To some of the hard-liners, peeving their colleagues is a necessary consequence of exerting pressure to achieve their goals.

“Change can be very disquieting and uncomfortable. Are people upset by that? I think so,” Biggs said.