Reps. Chip Roy, R-Texas, right, and Scott Perry, R-Pa., leave a meeting of the House Republican Conference in the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, September 13, 2023.
Far-right Republicans tried their hand at governing this week, cutting a government funding deal with center-right lawmakers in hopes of breaking a logjam of their own making as Congress lurches toward a potential shutdown on Sept. 30.
House Republicans released the bill Sunday night, aiming to corral enough GOP support to pass in a floor vote, but in a twist several rank-and-file ultraconservative lawmakers blasted the deal as too weak. Now, it's at risk of falling apart.
“It’s an unmitigated disaster right now on the majority side,” Rep. Steve Womack, R-Ark., a member of the Appropriations Committee, said Monday on NBC’s "Meet The Press NOW."
“Time is running out on us, but it’s clear from last night’s conference call, and the ensuing social media remarks by a handful of members...it does not have the sufficient votes right now in the House of Representatives to pass.”
The irony isn't lost on mainstream Republicans, who have repeatedly watched the the far-right Freedom Caucus try to impose its will through implausible demands and shoot down compromises designed to keep the government funded and functioning.
“Governing is hard,” said former Rep. Charlie Dent, R-Pa., a moderate who served from 2005 to 2018 and clashed with the far right. “Life’s tough. You can’t get everything you want in this world.”
