Tag: u.s. house of representatives
Chip Roy

GOP Hardliners In Congress Clashing With Trump Over Budget

During recent budget negotiations in the U.S. House of Representatives, President-elect Donald Trump not only clashed with Democrats — he also clashed with some GOP budget hawks, including Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX).

Trump, unlike Roy, favored raising the debt ceiling. And when Roy rejected one of the spending bills that Trump supported, the president-elect called for a primary challenge against him.

In an article published the day before Christmas 2024, Politico's Jordain Carney describes the tensions between Trump and hardline Republican budget hawks in Congress — including some members of the far-right House Freedom Caucus.

"Conservatives who want to slash the federal budget are hoping they can enlist President-elect Donald Trump and Elon Musk to their side come January," Carney explains. "But last week's meltdown over government funding underscored that Trump doesn't always share their fiscal restraint."

Carney adds, "Though Trump and Musk helped upend an initial bipartisan appropriations deal loathed by fiscal hardliners, 38 House Republicans later balked at Trump's big demand in the next bill: a looser limit on Washington's borrowing authority."

Another House Republican who voted against a Trump-supported spending bill was Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Arizona).

Biggs told Politico, "We allow the bureaucracy to grow. We pass CR after CR. That's going to be where the Trump bully pulpit is going to come in and actually try to deal with some of this stasis, this problem."

In 2025, Trump, according to Carney, Trump could either "be effective at pushing for cuts if he wants" or could "end up amplifying the GOP's existing internal fights and cause more chaos."

Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) told Politico, "I think unified government helps us, because I think President Trump is going to tell some of these guys, 'Get in line.'"

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Should The House of Representatives Impeach Obama?

Should The House of Representatives Impeach Obama?

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Rep. Kevin McCarthy Elected House Majority Leader

Rep. Kevin McCarthy Elected House Majority Leader

By Michael A. Memoli, Tribune Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON — House Republicans elected Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) as their next majority leader Thursday, continuing the California congressman’s rapid rise through the ranks of Congressional leadership.

McCarthy, 49, will be the first Californian and youngest person ever to serve in the House’s second-ranking position when he formally assumes the role in July. First elected in 2006, he has served since 2011 as the House Majority Whip.

His rapid climb is taking place at a time of significant turnover in Congress. McCarthy has served less time in the House than any of the chamber’s committee chairs. John A. Boehner (R-Ohio), now Speaker of the House, had served for 15 years before he became majority leader in 2006.

McCarthy comes to the new post during a turbulent period in which Republican leaders have struggled to find consensus among their members on major policy issues, often leading to setbacks in fights with Democrats, who control the Senate and the White House.

McCarthy’s promotion came a little more than a week after the unexpected primary defeat of Eric Cantor (R-Va.), the current majority leader. Cantor announced the next day that he would step down from the leadership job, and Boehner set a quick election schedule to replace him.

In part because of that speedy schedule, more conservative factions of the party were unable to mount a successful challenge to block the well-liked McCarthy from moving up. His lone opponent, Rep. Raul R. Labrador (R- Idaho), was backed by some of the House’s most conservative members, but started far behind McCarthy.

McCarthy’s victory in the leadership race immediately triggers another election to replace him as Majority Whip. Three candidates — Peter Roskam of Illinois, Steve Scalise of Louisiana, and Marlin Stutzman of Indiana — were battling for the job.

McCarthy served for four years in the California Assembly, including two years as Minority Leader, before he was elected to Congress from a district that includes his hometown of Bakersfield and most of the Antelope Valley. He played a key role in recruiting a class of candidates in 2010 that helped Republicans win back control of the House, and has raised millions to help keep the party in power.

Cantor had sought to use the Majority Leader job to shape policy designed to broaden the GOP’s appeal, though at times he faced resistance on key issues like immigration reform. McCarthy is seen as more of a political strategist than policy wonk, and one of his pledges to colleagues this week was to give committee leaders greater say over the legislative agenda.

“He knows the issues, he knows the players, he’s dealt with the Democrats. So he’s got about as good a preparation as you can have for the kind of job he’s moving into,” said Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), a top Boehner ally. “This is a job he knows well, and he’ll decide what direction he wants to move. I think members are very much at ease that he will discharge his duties competently and he will be loyal to the speaker.”

Boehner has said he intends to run for a third term as speaker if, as expected, Republicans hold the majority after November’s midterm election. McCarthy’s selection Thursday makes him the heir apparent if Boehner gives up the post after 2015.

Photo: Win McNamee via AFP

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