Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, has openly questioned whether the GOP deserves to keep the House majority, lamenting the lack of accomplishments this Congress. He’s not alone.
When Congress began the new year, Rep. Andy Biggs gave a television interview and made a startling confession: House Republicans have done nothing they can run on.
“We have nothing. In my opinion, we have nothing to go out there and campaign on,” the Arizona Republican said on the conservative network Newsmax. “It’s embarrassing.”
Anchor Chris Salcedo responded with a bemused chuckle. “I know,” he said. “The Republican Party in the Congress majority has zero accomplishments.”
The exchange captured a dynamic that looms over Republican lawmakers heading into the 2024 election: They’ve passed little substantive legislation since winning the majority in 2022 and struggled to do the basics of governing with a Democratic-led Senate. Their first year was instead marked by fractiousness and chaos, complicating the party’s pitch to voters this fall. The challenge is accentuated by likely GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump making “retribution” against his enemies, rather than shared policy goals, the centerpiece of his comeback bid as he continues to spread fabricated claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him.
To be fair, they do have achievements. They’re just incredibly unpopular with the general public.
The got abortion banned, they brought back child labor in some states, they blocked support for Russia’s invasion of Europe, they’re blocking bipartisan legislation on immigration so they continue to campaign on it, they got America’s Credit rating dropped again, and they’re about to make it so federal regulators can’t keep food, water, and workplaces safe.
They were able to do a lot with their court appointments, local officials, and good old fashioned obstruction.
And to move the goal post on culture wars. Trans are the new browns, who were the new gays, who were the new blacks and women.
I’m sure I forgot a few boogiemen. Native Americans slot in there somewhere too.
It’s astounding to me that my conservative friends, who were raised in the 90s and totally fine with gay people, are now falling for the “Trans are a danger to their kids” bullshit.
Yeah it’s the exact same shit they did with gay people. When are people gonna drill it into their thick skulls that the GOP wants to divide people with culture war bullshit to keep us distracted while they rob us blind?
Popularity doesn’t really matter.
They’re going to get 49% of the vote at least in most races, no matter what their record is, same as Democrats. People vote for team color, not policy.
The US House banned abortion federally in the last year? The US House is about to do away with chevron deference?
This is a Republican House member complaining that their last session has mostly been embarrassing. The highest profile thing they’ve done is had a hard time keeping a speaker.
And aren’t court appointments a senate thing?
Are they actually capable of embarrassment?
sure.
Just ask them to hold up their hand and compare sizes.
They don’t see reality, so every hand would be the biggest and the best hand.
yes, but they think you’re saying they have a small dick. (even though there’s no correlation between hand or foot size and dick size.)
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Only when they get caught having a gay hookup in a gray hound bathroom… Which has happened several times unsurprisingly
Don’t forget the restrooms in parks and other places. Also don’t forget the underage pages that were all the rage decades ago.
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Yeah I’m pretty certain if trump held his campaign solely based off of that, he’d get two-folds the amount of votes from republicans excited to punish women for thinking they have rights. /s
It only works if they can maintain cognitive dissonance. Can’t brag about reality.
They could start by passing a clean Ukraine lethal aid bill in the House that exceeds what Biden is asking for. Funding for high paying American jobs always sells well. And it’s a win-win that those high paying American jobs are to produce modern weapons like PrSM to upgrade the US Army’s capability, enabling them to pass old ATACMS to Ukraine to dispatch Russian invaders.
More military spending? Is that what we’re supposed to be routing for?
I think that guy is right though, strategically speaking. It would be in their (garbage republicans) best interest to pass some benefit for the military industrial complex that’s kept them in power, because right now they have nothing.
It’s kind of hilarious that Russia was a US conservative’s worst enemy until 2015. 10 years ago a Ukraine bill would have basically no opposition (assuming post Maidan), but Russia has clearly made inroads with the far-right grifters lol.
Russia has clearly made inroads with the far-right grifters
This is why they won’t pass any massive military spending bills, especially those that have to do with Ukraine. They’re all being paid by the Russians, and allowing Ukraine to continue to do well hits them in the pockets more directly than all the other super PACs combined.
Putin bought them out after we started supplying/selling weapons to Ukraine after the 2014 Crimea invasion, with Obama and everyone pushing hard to get Ukraine out of Putin’s sphere of influence. (complete with supporting the Euromaidan, and “the revolution of dignity”… )
Not necessarily, but it really demonstrates that they can’t deliver even when their base and Dem colleagues would support it.
“We just wish we could have destroyed a bigger part of society and caused additional policy disasters… Sometimes I wonder if we are really evil anymore…”
Guess they can’t really brag about where they actually focus energy: stonewalling any and all progress and poisoning the public’s opinion and trust of “the Other”, whatever the target may be.
Anything that doesn’t benefit big oil.
There’s plenty other industries they support. Arms, drugs, finance, probably human trafficking but that’s just an educated guess.
What, cant run on grievances in perpetuity?
Who needs achievement when you have fascism on the menu for 2024?
What?
Attempting to restrict medical care and the rights of gay people not sitting well with you?
Bragging about accomplishments and compromise is the old way to campaign.
The modern form of getting elected is not to actually do anything. Because if you solve a problem then you can’t scare your voters with that problem in the future.
An example of this is abortion. Conservatives could always count on the one issue, “pro-life” voter to give them their vote to ban abortion. Now that it’s become easier for states to restrict abortion there is less incentive for these one issue voters to come out to the polls.
I fear that the left is starting to see the effectiveness of the “scare the voter” strategy and will drag their feet on certain hot topic issues like abortion so they can get more votes.
What is this, Brexit?
They have a base of people who don’t care about material change or want any policy that is net positive in their lives.
Being the least-productive Congress in American history is a kind of accomplishment…
Republicans
worry theyhave no achievements to run on in 2024, and their voters don’t give a fucksecure the border? Any legislation that might address the border will kill the number 1 campaigning topic.
Passing a budget. The current 3 CR’s are quite telling. They cannot get the spending cuts because it will also upset some of their potential voters. Not enough cuts or cuts to the wrong programs won’t set well.
Roy ,Cramer and Cole aren’t the only ones echoing their dissatisfaction .
How ever the American public is grateful for the naming of two medical centers and the dairy bill.
Odd, they never cared before.
