For a Democrat in 2024 to blast Republicans as “ineffective” and “incompetent” is the height of hypocrisy, but that exact criticism was expressed this week. Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA) took his House colleagues to task for what he believes is paralysis.
The diatribe came during a House Rules Committee gathering on Thursday.
The meeting was held amid threats by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) to initiate the ouster of Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA). The latest controversy exploded over his support for the Biden administration’s push to reauthorize warrantless domestic spying.
McGovern called the House GOP “the most ineffective, incompetent majority, I think, in American history. Full stop. It has been nearly an entire year, an entire year almost, since anything that we have done in the Rules Committee has gone to the president’s desk.”
The Democrat accused Republicans of attempting and failing to pass their own rules seven times.
He added, “One or two, three times, maybe that’s just incompetence. But seven? Seven is a disaster. Seven is paralysis.” Again, this criticism came from a Democratic supporter of a White House that threw the border wide open and spawned runaway inflation.
Rep. McGovern calls House Republicans most ‘ineffective, incompetent majority’ in US history – Washington Examiner https://t.co/K1DhtIJy0Z
— Cassis (@cassisnouveau) April 12, 2024
The “rule” McGovern referenced is a resolution that must be passed by the House before a bill is debated. Guidelines for lawmakers to debate are established through this procedure, including the duration of the discussion and whether amendments are permitted.
Conservative Republicans have been in open rebellion against House leadership over what they deem as capitulation to the Biden administration.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene penned a five-page letter to her colleagues accusing the GOP of accepting a “complete and total surrender.” The firebrand said that House Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-LA) leadership is promoting the will of the White House rather than that of his own party.
Greene made a motion to vacate the Speaker’s chair on March 22. At that time she called it a “warning shot.”
According to the New York Times and CNN, Greene’s missive blasted her party’s direction. “If these actions by the leader of our conference continue, then we are not a Republican Party — we are a uniparty that is hellbent on remaining on the path of self-inflicted destruction.”
