WASHINGTON – House Republicans had perhaps one of the most perplexing and confusing days in recent memory Tuesday.
Republican leaders called for votes on two key legislative priorities for the party: impeaching Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and funding U.S. aid to Israel. Both of these votes resulted in back-to-back defeats in the full House, with Republicans suffering defeats that have been described as disappointing and demoralizing defeats.
“It's not good,” said Rep. Ralph Norman, R.S.C.
“It's very frustrating,” said Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Mont.
“It's embarrassing. It's embarrassing,” said Rep. Troy Neals (R-Texas).
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Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) said last night's vote was an act of “futility.”
The failure of both bills casts a pall over House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana), who now looks ahead to the next legislative battle in the House.
For example, a series of government funds that have already been temporarily extended three times will expire on March 1. If lawmakers cannot agree on a solution in the coming weeks, the country faces a government shutdown.
That's not all. The speaker will also need to consider reauthorizing the foreign surveillance program, which has deeply divided House Republicans.
Looking at these challenges, Mr. Johnson is tasked with explaining this week's Republican defeat. Johnson told reporters Wednesday morning that he accused Democrats and President Joe Biden of obstructing efforts to aid Israel, as he threatened to veto the bill if it was introduced.
And Johnson vowed that Republicans would reintroduce articles of impeachment against Mayorkas for a second vote in the near future.
“The process can be tedious at times, but the job gets done,” Johnson said. “We've got our hands on the wheel, we'll get through it, everyone take a deep breath. It's a long game. We're going to get the job done.”
That effort failed on Tuesday, and the vote to impeach Mayorkas was a long time coming. House Republicans have sought to punish the secretary since taking control of the chamber last year, but their efforts ultimately failed after a small number of Republicans blocked the vote. These Republican lawmakers expressed concern that their colleagues are politicizing impeachment without the necessary basis to target Mr. Mayorkas.
And even though it became increasingly clear throughout the day Tuesday that Republicans lacked the votes needed to pass an Israel funding bill, Republican leaders continued to press ahead. To speed up the bill's passage and sidestep far-right opposition, leaders have placed it on “hold,” which could speed up passage, but would require two-thirds support. It's a procedural tactic.
The Israel funding bill ultimately failed to garner the votes it needed, with a majority of Democrats voting against it. Left-wing lawmakers cited a variety of reasons, including the bill's lack of humanitarian aid for Gaza. Some Democrats supported a separate, broader foreign aid package that senators have been working on for months.
These were not concerns that Democrats had privately, hiding their ideas from Johnson. As a result, some Republicans were quick to question their leaders for calling for the vote, rather than their Democratic colleagues who voted against their priorities.
“They should have counted the votes and they didn't,” Norman said of the effort to impeach Mayorkas.
Massie uses X (formerly Twitter). In a post after the vote, he said the situation had descended into an “unmitigated catastrophe” after the firing of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) last year. “The results we're getting are bad,” the Kentucky conservative told reporters Wednesday, denying he was specifically criticizing Johnson.
So what happens next as the Republican Party looks to rally? With Democrats in the Senate and Biden in the White House, any legislation coming out of the House will ultimately need bipartisan support. But it's unclear when Johnson and other House Republicans will agree to this.
“It's like whiskey. Huge purist whiskey is 218 Republican votes,” Zinke said. “The minute it runs out, you start diluting it and you're drinking iced tea right away.”
The drama in the House, which Republican Rep. Steve Womack of Arkansas is challenging, is nothing new., Given that House Republican dysfunction has already been on full display since Mr. McCarthy pursued the speakership with 15 votes last year.
“I don't think there was anything special about yesterday. I think that was obvious,” Womack said, noting that he was still disappointed after last night's debacle.
Asked whether at this stage of the contest Republicans have any hope of defending and expanding their House majority in the upcoming 2024 elections, Nehls, one of former President Donald Trump's most vocal allies in the House, said: He showed an attitude of cutting his losses. “All we need is Donald Trump.”
But even if the former president were to defend House Republicans heading into the general election, it's not clear that Americans wouldn't consider the recent chaos at the Capitol polling place.
“It wasn't good,” Republican Rep. John Rutherford of Florida lamented on House Republican Weekly.
