House Republicans are starting to fear their reelection chances in November in the wake of a chaotic term that saw the first ousting of a House speaker and a divided party that has resulted in light legislative accomplishments.
Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) expressed his concern about his ability to campaign in 2024, claiming the lack of productivity in Congress was “embarrassing.”
“We have nothing. In my opinion, we have nothing to go out there and campaign on,” Biggs told Newsmax earlier this year. “It’s embarrassing.”
Governing in a divided Congress is already difficult in terms of passing meaningful legislation, but Republicans have also faced pushback within their own party by a group of far-right members who have opposed any deals or compromises with Democrats.
Although the term has been slow in terms of legislation, there are still at least three bills that could give Republicans the victories and momentum they need this cycle. One is a spending deal between both chambers, which could give the GOP a chance to achieve spending cuts. A second is a Senate immigration deal that would give Republicans credit for tougher border and immigration laws. The third is a bipartisan tax bill that recently passed through committee and gives the GOP an opening to deliver tax breaks to the business community.
Those bills, however, are not guaranteed to pass into law, and some Republicans have claimed the bills are not conservative enough. But not passing the pieces of legislation, or compromising, could harm them at the ballot box, Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC) warned.
“If we keep extending the pain and creating more suffering, we will pay the price at the ballot box. But if we can get on with governance and get the best policy wins we can, then you can open-field this thing,” McHenry told NBC News. “At this point, we are sucking wind because we can’t get past the main object in the road. Once we get past that main object, then it’s the president’s performance on the economy, it’s the president’s performance on national security. We need to get the hell out of the way, cut the best deals we can get, and then get on with the political year.”
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Other Republicans claim the House has passed meaningful legislation that got stuck in or was killed by the Senate, such as a parental rights bill. Others are not as concerned about what the party has failed to accomplish because of what the party has been able to prevent.
“The big accomplishments here are what we stopped, not what we got done,” House Rules Committee Chairman Tom Cole (R-OK) said. “So far we’ve avoided shutting down the government; that’s no small achievement. I actually think that House races are going to be shaped more by the presidential race than they are by anything that happens here. The country is very evenly divided. I don’t think very many people are going to vote for one guy for president and a person of a different party for their local congressman or congresswoman.”
