Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) is among the many Americans fed up with the squabbling among House Republicans that has, at this point, somewhat incapacitated the legislative chamber from even doing anything as U.S. ally Israel enters war with the terror group Hamas.
In recent days, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) led a successful push to boot Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) from the role of House Speaker, with a small group of dissenting Republicans joining House Democrats to constitute the majority that was necessary for McCarthy’s removal. Republican leadership — meaning McCarthy specifically — evidently rebuffed the idea of striking a deal with Democrats to preserve the Californian’s stint as Speaker and keep the House at least somewhat operational, meaning the GOP’s latest round of politicking shut down even a bipartisan off-ramp from the chaos. What were Democrats supposed to do? Buck their basic principles to unilaterally save McCarthy?
Swalwell responded on X (formerly Twitter) to an antagonistic back-and-forth between GOP Reps. Derrick Van Orden (Wisc.) and Gaetz. “This is not debate class, Sugar,” Van Orden complained to Gaetz. “This is the institution that represents all Americans, not just your social media followers.” House GOP meetings this week are sure to be something else! “This childish exchange between Republicans at war with themselves — as Israel is at war with terrorism — is why Republicans can never again be given the keys to governing,” Swalwell said.
Already, it was Democrats in the House who salvaged deals to raise the federal debt limit and temporarily fund the federal government, averting a shutdown. Republican House members voted against both those legislative packages in numbers sufficient to sink the whole thing, bringing financial chaos — had Democrats not provided the votes to clinch the majority. Republicans have the outright majority in the House in terms of individual seats, but they can’t even reach that level of support on these key issues that will actually go somewhere — unlike their partisan agenda items that are doomed legislatively from nearly the very start.
This childish exchange between Republicans at war with themselves — as Israel is at war with terrorism — is why Republicans can never again be given the keys to governing. https://t.co/A8evPUtlFo
— Rep. Eric Swalwell (@RepSwalwell) October 9, 2023
