McCarthy also called on Republicans to be unified in the party’s messages. He drew attention to the Republican Party’s efforts to highlight the growing crisis on the southern border, where a wave of unaccompanied migrant children has peaked since the beginning of the Biden government.
Sources say that during the Republican Party meeting on Wednesday, Biggs responded that some members have been visiting the border for years and not just showing up there recently – a not-so-subtle dig at McCarthy, who led a Republican Party delegation to the border earlier this week.
“I didn’t think anything was heated. People are in love, ”said Biggs after the meeting, although he declined to discuss what happened inside. “If we don’t use all the procedural tools in the toolbox we have … yes, it frustrates me.”
Biggs added that, as a member of the minority party, “you have to get in the way and try to slow things down as much as you can.”
In the past few weeks, a small slice of rebellious Republicans has been asking for votes registered in the House on non-controversial bills and has been forced to vote on motions of postponement, causing headaches for their colleagues and cluttering the agenda as members are forced to drop everything to get to the ground. These Republicans say they are reflecting widespread frustration with the way Democrats are running the House, from the lack of opportunities for Republican amendments to the barbed wire fences erected around the Capitol.
The ongoing dispute over plenary proceedings is unstable, but critical for the leaders of the Chamber of both parties. If Republican Party lawmakers refuse to give in to their postponement tactics, it would mean hard work by roll-call votes on the most mundane issues – forcing lawmakers into a new lifestyle in which half of their days are spent getting in and out of the country. Chamber.
Ordinary members said they increasingly fear that the House’s schedule will turn into chaos, with Democrats struggling to maintain orderly procedures while Republican Party lawmakers try to interrupt the day on a whim.
Majority leader in the House, Steny Hoyer, told Democrats during a general call on Wednesday that he is working closely with McCarthy to resolve the issue. Hoyer said Democrats would implement some form of formal effort to stop the Republican Party’s tactics when the House returns after recess.
“When we return in April, we will have solved the [Republican] obstruction through negotiation or a change in the rules, ”said Hoyer, according to people on the conference call.
Senior Democrats say it is unclear exactly what a change in rules might look like, or whether it would really work to prevent House Republicans from voting all non-controversial bills.
House Speaker Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) Said he discussed the issue with Hoyer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and will try to “find the best way forward” in the coming weeks.
“Without going into details, there are options. But here’s the thing: it would be nice if the minority leader told some of its members to behave like adults,” said McGovern.
“This is serious work that we are doing. These are serious debates that we are having. And most of the complaints I’m getting, frankly, are from Republicans. Because they are angry. “
And many Democrats, as well as a growing number of Republicans, fear that the Republican Party’s hard line will show no signs of retreating anytime soon.
When asked if he intends to go ahead with the strategy, Biggs replied: “Yes. You have to keep pushing and trying like a son of a bitch to slow them down. “
Frustration with the slowdown has increased for weeks, after an already exhausting month of House votes worsened for members due to the Republican Party’s postponement tactics. Because of the pandemic, each vote takes about 45 minutes or more, so some additional roll-call votes can extend the time of each day by hours – usually late at night.
It is not just a dispute over the process that is delaying things. Several conservatives have substantive complaints about some of the bipartisan projects that were scheduled for quick vote in plenary – including legislation to award Congressional gold medals to the Capitol Police for their services during the January 6 riot.
Some Republicans are dissatisfied with the language of the gold medal bill that calls the Capitol “the temple of our American democracy” and labels aggressors as “a crowd of insurrectionists”.
“All of those words matter, right?” Congressman Chip Roy (R-Texas) told POLITICO. “We are looking at this, let’s find out … I have to study the language completely.”
Roy said that “some” others on the ultra-conservative Freedom Caucus feel the same way as he does, while noting that there are “a wide variety of opinions” on the issue.
Congressman Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) is now circulating a competing bill to honor the Capitol Police that does not mention the attack on the Capitol or January 6, according to a copy obtained by POLITICO.
“We regret the losses of Capitol police officers Brian Sicknick and Howard Liebengood, and Metropolitan Police Department officer Jeffrey Smith, all approved in January 2021,” says a bill, citing police officers whose deaths are related to the riot. “The sacrifices made by each of these men are never forgotten in the United States Congress and by the many people who benefit from their services.”
The fight threatens to turn even one of the most non-controversial issues that Congress will face this year – paying tribute to its police force – into a party dispute.
“Our whole goal is to take the house back. And you need a good strategy to do that, ”said Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.). “The leader has made a plan that he thinks will get us there. And then you don’t want to have 10, 15 different people making their own plans. … so I agree with the leader. “