Just hours before Speaker of the House Mike Johnson sent members home until after the November 3 midterm elections, House Republicans met in his office.
And that’s when the fireworks began as House GOP leaders began attacking each other and hurling insults, according to a report from Reese Gorman of the Washington Sun, who notes, “Everyone was fired up,” one source said.
The meeting, which took place around 9:30 p.m., devolved into a shouting match when the speaker brought up the issue of a bill which would suspend the federal gas tax until after the midterms. The legislation had been suggested by House Freedom Caucus Chair Andy Harris (R-MD).
Not everyone agreed the gas tax bill was a good idea, with House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee chairman Rep. Sam Graves (R-MO) reminding Harris that he’d criticized then-President Joe Biden’s attempts to suspend the gas tax 2022.
“Suspending the federal gas tax is just another Biden Administration stunt to distract from their self-inflicted crisis,” Harris said in a June 22, 2022 post on Twitter/X.
Graves suggested the bill not be moved to the floor, which enraged Harris, who shouted, “This is fucking war! This is war!”
Speaker Johnson tried to mediate the matter when But Rep. Clay Higgins (R-LA) reportedly turned to Harris and said, “Why do you have to come at him personally?” Higgins said. “You disrespectful fool!”
Both Higgins and Harris then stormed out of the room, according to Gorman.
“The room was really tense,” one source revealed.
The GOP sniping has been building for days, with Higgins posting this about Graves on Tuesday.
As the GOP-led House has proven since taking control in 2024, they have no discipline and are constantly at each other’s throats. Therefore, they get nothing done other than passing idiotic legislation (such as the so-called “Big Beautiful Budget Bill”) which drastically slashed government spending on education, healthcare, social services at a time when those programs are needed more than ever as a result of the financial downturn caused by Donald Trump’s dunderheaded war with Iran, a conflict that continues to cause skyrocketing oil prices. The high price of oil is being felt in other areas, including groceries and services Americans depend on.
Republicans have had two years in control of the federal government. And all they have accomplished is bringing on an extended recession and economic pain for everyone in the United States. The time has come to vote them all out and focus on healing the miasma they have created.
