{"id":17341,"date":"2024-03-27T12:46:51","date_gmt":"2024-03-27T12:46:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/2024\/03\/27\/republicans-blast-departing-gop-lawmakers-as-razor-thin-majority-fuels-fears-of-dem-takeover\/"},"modified":"2024-03-27T12:46:51","modified_gmt":"2024-03-27T12:46:51","slug":"republicans-blast-departing-gop-lawmakers-as-razor-thin-majority-fuels-fears-of-dem-takeover","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/2024\/03\/27\/republicans-blast-departing-gop-lawmakers-as-razor-thin-majority-fuels-fears-of-dem-takeover\/","title":{"rendered":"Republicans blast departing GOP lawmakers as razor-thin majority fuels fears of Dem takeover"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The early departures of several key Republicans have reignited tensions within the House GOP, as the lawmakers grapple with the prospect of a historically slim one-vote majority.<\/p>\n

\u2018There\u2019s no excuse for this,\u2019 Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., told Fox News Digital. \u2018The country\u2019s at stake. To put the Democrats in control of what might happen is inexcusable.\u2019<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, another GOP lawmaker said they understood people leaving, lamenting the state of \u2018civic discourse\u2019 and suggesting more Republicans could soon be out the door.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s in jeopardy is the thin line between Republicans losing the majority \u2014 whether by intentional exits or unintended incidents \u2014 to Democrats.<\/p>\n

Back in January, Republicans had started the 118th Congress with just a single-digit majority. Multiple early departures since then, along with the expulsion of Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., has slimmed that down dramatically.<\/p>\n

Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., shocked colleagues on Friday when he announced he\u2019s stepping down on April 19, weeks after Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo., also revealed he\u2019d be stepping down early. Both announced earlier that they would not be seeking re-election.<\/p>\n

Gallagher and Buck were hammered by their conservative colleagues, with Gallagher in particular getting attacked because his planned departure date would come after Wisconsin\u2019s deadline to hold a special election \u2014 meaning the seat would be vacant through 2024.<\/p>\n

\u2018If he\u2019s going to resign, then do it. Let the people of Wisconsin pick a replacement. That would be the right thing to do, to me,\u2019 Norman said, questioning whether the decision was \u2018a little strategic.\u2019<\/p>\n

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., went even further, telling \u2018Sunday Morning Futures\u2019 that Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., should expel Gallagher earlier so that a special election could take place.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2018Any strong Republican speaker of the House would expel a member for leaving our razor-thin majority in such a delicate, delicate state,\u2019 Greene said on Fox News Channel.<\/p>\n

His departure will likely leave a one-vote majority until June, when a special election for ex-Rep. Bill Johnson\u2019s safe red Ohio seat will likely expand the GOP majority. Johnson left earlier this year to take over as president of Youngstown State University.<\/p>\n

Norman pointed out the precarious position the House GOP now finds itself in: \u2018What if somebody has a heart attack? Or what if a tragedy strikes any number of us?\u2019<\/p>\n

But a GOP lawmaker granted anonymity to speak more freely suggested it was those same hardline conservatives who have been fueling dysfunction within the House \u2014 such as holding up House floor votes and deposing ex-Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., who also left Congress early afterward \u2014 that are partly responsible for pushing people out the door.<\/p>\n

\u2018There aren\u2019t that many blaming [lawmakers leaving early], because I think everybody understands it. I\u2019ve heard dozens of members talk about leaving, walking away from it all,\u2019 the source said.<\/p>\n

\u2018I think it should be a cautionary tale for all of us about our political environment. This is not just the House \u2014 we have millions of Americans who are disgusted by the toxicity and dysfunction in the system, and they\u2019re checking out, too. And if we don\u2019t fix the underlying problem with our civic discourse, we\u2019re just going to get more of them \u2014 members of Congress through the citizenry, checking out,\u2019 they added.<\/p>\n

The GOP lawmaker called Buck and Gallagher \u2018hard-working\u2019 and \u2018principled.\u2019<\/p>\n

Another conservative, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., predicted further \u2018gridlock\u2019 in the wake of Gallagher and Buck\u2019s departures in a weekend interview with Fox News Live.<\/p>\n

\u2018When you are seeing people intentionally leave in order to prevent primaries from happening so those seats can be filled, I just think that they\u2019re doing the American people disservice,\u2019 Luna said.\u00a0\u2018You are really only screwing over the Republican Party \u2014 the American people.\u2019<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

This post appeared first on FOX NEWS<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The early departures of several key Republicans have reignited tensions within the House GOP, as the lawmakers grapple with the prospect of a historically slim one-vote majority. \u2018There\u2019s no excuse for this,\u2019 Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., told Fox News Digital. \u2018The country\u2019s at stake. To put the Democrats in control of what might happen is <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":17342,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-17341","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-politics"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17341","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17341"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17341\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17342"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17341"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17341"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17341"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}