The fight within the Republican ranks is not going away anytime soon. Ultra-right House Republicans like Chip Roy (R-TX), Matt Gaetz (R-FL), Marjory Taylor Green (R-GA), and Jim Jordan (R-OH) are not going to let go of the anger they have over the debt ceiling debate. They feel Speaker McCarthy went back on his word. The problem is that no one involved seems to know what those agreements might have been.
Republican moderates and even establishment conservatives wanting to get something done will have to work with their counterparts across the aisle. The Democrats have their own intra-party problems. However, the progressives have—in most cases—voted with the moderates on major legislation.
Progressive Democrats weren’t particularly happy about the debt ceiling compromise. They opposed the changes to NEPA that “create statutory guidelines for the length and scope of environmental review documents, change the definition of “major federal action” (the traditional trigger for NEPA reviews), and codify certain provisions from the existing Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) regulations. permitting portions and the preemption of NEPA that was written into the bill. In addition, they opposed the additional work requirements for federal food stamp recipients.
The budget deal also included giving the Mountain Valley Pipeline “Congress’s blessing regardless of any flaws in the environmental impact statement or consideration of impacts on endangered species.”
From all reports, the far-right Republicans are willing to shut down the government to get their way. The budget ceiling agreement avoided a government shutdown. The next time the opportunity to close the government down is only a few months away when it comes time to vote on the 12 subject matter appropriations bills.
The chair of the House appropriations committee, Kay Granger (R-TX), has already indicated that she would be instructing the majority members that they were to use the 2022 budget numbers—not the 2024 marks agreed to by Speaker McCarthy and President Biden. The battle lines are being drawn in the House.
It’s unclear if the speaker will again seek a compromise with President Biden or side with the far-right members of the House Freedom Caucus. McCarthy’s hold on the speakership is complicated and none too secure.
Speaker McCarthy needed the far-right’s votes to be elected speaker but agreed that any member of the House could call for a vote of confidence, i.e., a motion to vacate the chair. To keep the speaker’s gavel, he may need the help of enough Democrats to offset the opposition of HFC members. Talk about irony.
The Senate is also conflicted in terms of the far-right Republicans like Rick Scott (R-FL) battling more establishment colleagues like Senate Minority Leader McConnell (R-KY) and Mitt Romney (R-UT).
There’s also tension between progressive senators like Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and their more moderate colleagues, including Majority Leader Schumer (D-NY). For the moment anyway the Senate is not as conflicted as the House.
A big wrinkle in the Democrat’s Senate fabric is s Joe Manchin (D-WV). Manchin is in re-election trouble partly because of his role in the passage of the IRA. As I’ve written in the Two Joes piece, the West Virginian has proposed rescinding parts of the IRA and is even considering running as a third-party presidential candidate. Expect him to try and prove he can be just as Republican-like as the next the guy when it comes to energy legislation and budget deficits.