DKos’s Laura Clawson reports on a Washington Post story about the very lame House “moderates” (who have just as much power as the MAGA winguts):
The far-right House Freedom Caucus’s antics have gotten so bad that Republicans who represent districts won by President Joe Biden have actually started trying to affect what legislation comes to the House floor. They’re not trying very hard, mind you—whining to the media remains their main weapon, and they’ll get outsized credit for anything they accomplish, including the whining, but doing slightly more than nothing is a change.
The Washington Post reports, “In recent weeks, these lawmakers have kept some abortion-related measures from being put to a vote and sunk an amendment that would have derailed a government oversight bill.” Okay, that’s a start, as is the successful effort by some first-term New York Republicans to sink anti-union amendments.
It continues: “They also have tried to convince their far-right counterparts to avoid altering appropriation bills during committee markups, warning that any poison pills could force a big enough group to reject the bills on the House floor if they feel they could hurt their reelection chances.” They’ve tried. Huh. Is that new? Were swing district Republicans not trying to do that all along?
This, though—this is special:
Several lawmakers who represent districts President Biden won have also asked leadership to go a step further and allow them in the negotiating room with their far-right colleagues during high-profile debates to explain why the groups’ demands could jeopardize their five-vote majority, according to two people familiar with the request who, like others who spoke to The Washington Post, did so on the condition of anonymity to detail private conversations.
They’re asking to be allowed in the negotiating room. Doesn’t that seem like something that would have happened on Day One? Doesn’t it seem like Kevin McCarthy might have asked them himself?
Swing-district Republicans also have been pushing leadership to be strategic about which messaging bills they bring to the floor, arguing it’s not worth forcing vulnerable members to take tough votes on legislation that will die in the Senate.
I don’t know, all of this seems like something leadership might have figured out for itself. If Kevin McCarthy were a competent leader who hadn’t given away every shred of leverage he possessed to squeak in as speaker on the 15th vote, maybe it would have.
Some swing district Republicans say they’re nervously looking ahead to being put on the spot about expunging Donald Trump’s impeachments. Yet when it came to votes on referring Rep. Lauren Boebert’s Biden impeachment resolution to two committees and on censuring Rep. Adam Schiff, the so-called moderates knew their place. Those were party-line votes.
These Republicans should get credit for doing the right thing to the exact extent that they do the right thing. No bonus points for whining to the media. And when the media does report on them, be it the whining or the actually getting things done, those moments they fell in line on the extreme votes need to be included in the coverage.
They are useless, let’s face it. If they were true moderates they would show some gumption or leave the party. Complaining on background isn’t doing anything.