Democrats retained control of the Senate after the 2022 midterms, leading to widespread doubt about whether the Republican-led House of Representatives would see any bill it passed become law. But that’s not how things have gone in the three months since the 118th Congress convened.
Dozens of Republican elected officials, party activists, advocates, and campaign strategists have told The Epoch Times that House Republicans are dealing with major challenges but expressed enthusiasm for what has nevertheless been accomplished in less than three months. All expect much more from the party, especially in the fall when the biggest legislative battles will be fought.
“Taxpayers should be relieved that House committees have been holding oversight hearings to increase accountability and transparency, which was severely lacking over the past two years. House leadership asked each committee to establish an oversight plan, which again did not occur when Democrats were in charge,” Schatz said.
But Schatz added that GOP House leaders “should expand on that effort, especially since estimates vary on how much of this money was stolen, misused, or subject to improper payments.”
“The Republican House-led investigations and subpoenas are building a case against Democrat rule in the White House and bureaucracy. The narrow GOP majority has held together on tough issues like parental rights,” Norquest told The Epoch Times.
McCarthy’s Leadership
A key factor in that cohesion, according to Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.), has been the inclusive approach taken by House GOP leaders. Ogles attributed much of the expected divisions within the House GOP conference to “the media inflating some of the friction that was there. But all parties were talking into the wee hours of the morning to come up with solutions.”Ogles was one of the 20 House Republicans who achieved major conservative reforms in House procedures during the standoff over McCarthy’s speakership vote.
“Everybody understood, leadership was very respectful, we sat across the table saying this is what we’re looking for, this is what I came to Congress for, and they said ‘ok, let’s see if we can get there,’ so there was this very thoughtful process,” he said.
Ogles also recalled his recent lengthy conversation with Emmer about the debt ceiling issue that is expected to prompt a landmark debate in coming months between House Republicans, Biden, and Senate Democrats.
“We had a long conversation to get my input, I mean here I am just a freshman, a low man on the totem pole, but he’s getting my thoughts on the debt ceiling. They have really done a great job of including all voices in these big discussions,” Ogles said.
David Williams, president of the Taxpayers Protection Alliance, told The Epoch Times he thinks House Republicans can and should make major progress in cutting the IRS down to size. Doing so will require more bipartisan cooperation.
“With the new-found majority, this is the time to put aside partisan politics and look for areas where there is common ground such as IRS reform. The IRS has historically targeted low-income taxpayers for audits from both parties. Reining in an abusive and intrusive IRS is an excellent start,” Williams said.
Overall, the House GOP majority has chalked up some wins but the biggest battles are still ahead, according to Potomac Strategy Group President Matt Mackowiak.
“The GOP House majority had a slow start after multiple rounds of voting for Speaker, but they are starting to find their footing, they are enacting their agenda and have passed bills that President Biden has signed,” said Mackowiak, a Capitol Hill aide-turned national campaign strategist.
Debt Ceiling is Key Issue
Americans for Limited Government (ALG) President Richard Manning also sees the debt ceiling issue as central to House Republicans’ chances for success, but he doesn’t think the man in the Oval Office is nearly as critical.“The speaker needs to get a debt limit increase bill on the floor that limits or cuts spending now. He should send something to the Senate and make it their problem. Biden won’t talk, but, truthfully, who cares what he says, this is between the House and the Senate and Biden can decide whether to default on the debt by vetoing or not,” Manning explained.
“Obviously Biden would be involved on the Senate side, but let them explain why we need to continue down the path of fiscal destruction versus taking a reasonable step toward slowing the growth of government spending,” he added.
Manning also acknowledged that Republicans will have to compromise, but so will Democrats.“Basically, McCarthy needs to pass a [debt ceiling/spending cut] bill to set a marker, and, with the limited majority, it won’t be what I would want, but if it just accomplishes some restraint, it will be very hard for the Left to oppose it. I would also put at least 10 spending cut/policy riders in the bill that the Democrats can focus on with the idea of making the negotiation about the riders rather than the basic bill framework,” Manning continued.
Republican strategist Brian Darling, a Capitol Hill veteran and founder of Liberty Government Affairs (LGA), thinks McCarthy has “a great opportunity to leverage a similar deal that Speaker of the House John Boehner and President Barack Obama cut back in 2011. Republicans took a hard line and supported ‘Cut, Cap and, Balance’ and that led to chain of events leading to something called the Sequester, a mechanism to automatically cut spending across the board for discretionary programs. A similar deal to the 2011 deal would be optimal.”
Besides the debt ceiling, the growing imposition by the government at all levels of “woke” social policies, especially in the Department of Defense (DOD), requires more action by House Republicans, according to many of those interviewed by The Epoch Times.
Woke Won’t Win Wars
“What we’re doing is, our military is defunding tanks, we’re getting rid of snipers in the Marine Corps and instead, we’re funding Diversity, Equity, Inclusion (CEI) programs, we’re funding drag queen story hours in DOD schools,” Berry pointed out.“There need to be hearings, I would say, to call those Pentagon officials to the Hill to testify, to explain. ‘Look, just tell me if you can give me a good argument for why getting rid of tanks is good for our national security, Okay, I am willing to listen. Or why label evangelicals and Catholics as extremists? If you can give me something to support that, then I am willing to listen.’ But they can’t and they refuse to, they obfuscate, they delay, they obstruct. That’s what I would like to see more of in the House,” Berry continued.
Asked if woke ideological fanaticism in the DOD is an issue of sufficient importance that he would favor House Republicans drawing a red line on funding, Berry responded that he believes “the American people are encouraged when they see their elected leaders stand on principle and not just be pragmatists all the time. There is a time for pragmatism but I don’t think principled constitutionalism should ever give way to pragmatism.”
Regarding the overall trend of American politics since the GOP regained control of the House in 2022, National Republican campaign strategist Jimmy Keady expressed optimism as a result of the House GOP majority.
“Republicans have had the majority for just three months now and they’re already beginning to alter the course of Biden’s agenda. They’ve been able to pass meaningful legislation that counters the agenda of the left,” he said.
“In North Carolina, we saw a state representative switch parties with more likely to come. We are seeing Kirsten Sinema becoming an Independent in Arizona too. Republicans across the country are proactively expanding their base and proving to be an electoral force heading into 2024. Speaker McCarthy and Republicans are proving that even with the slim majority in the House, they are able to be a check on President Biden’s power,” he said.
The critical measure of how the House Republican majority approaches its tasks going forward, according to Mike Howell, Director of the Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project, is how much more accountable the federal government will be as a result.
“The most important thing the House can do this year is vigorous oversight and accountability. Americans are living through a time of corruption like we’ve never seen before. The House majority has a mandate to tell that story,” Howell told The Epoch Times. Howell is a former oversight counsel for committees of both chambers of Congress.
“Whether it’s the Black Lives Matter rioters who burned down significant portions of the country, the FBI which has turned into a grandma chasing agency, the payments the Biden Family so willingly took, or our unfair and unfree election system, the House should operate with an all gas no breaks mentality to seek true and lasting accountability. That’s the test by which we will judge the effectiveness of oversight,” Howell said.
