If you watched last week's ongoing machinations in the House over passing a funding bill to avert a government federal shutdown, how many times did you say to yourself, "Here we go, again"?
"Here we go, again," in reference to Republicans in control of the House — barely, yes — but failing to stick together to pass legislation. Throughout my years of writing about politics, GOP infighting and circular firing squads have convinced me that the Republican Party often has a harder time governing than playing defense when the Democrats have the majority.
After an initial bipartisan spending bill fell apart, the House failed to pass a new funding bill on Thursday, when a vast majority of Democrats and a few dozen Republicans voted it down.
On Friday, the House passed the "Plan C" CR, 366 to 34, with one voting "present." The 34 nay votes were Republicans. All Democrats voted in favor of it, except for the one "present" vote. Noticeably missing from the bill: President-elect Donald Trump’s demand for a debt-limit increase in the new year.
Prior to the vote, Trump and Vice President-elect J.D. Vance said in a joint statement:
Increasing the debt ceiling is not great but we'd rather do it on Biden's watch. If Democrats won't cooperate on the debt ceiling now, what makes anyone think they would do it in June during our administration? Let's have this debate now.
However, it was not to be.
RELATED: (Updated) With 'Plan C,' the House Averts a Shutdown
A shutdown was averted early Saturday when the Senate rushed through final passage of the bipartisan plan that would temporarily fund federal operations and disaster aid, which President Joe Biden then signed into law.
RELATED: NEW: US Senate Passes Bipartisan Continuing Resolution Bill
Congressional Republicans in both chambers were far from pleased with the process and the final outcome, with some saying they've lost confidence in Speaker Mike Johnson after he introduced a stopgap funding package that immediately drew fire from Trump.
Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley said the fiasco was "such an embarrassment."
It’s such an embarrassment. If they can't manage the CR (continuing resolution), how is he going to manage reconciliation? It's bad. It bodes badly.
Hawley added that he has "zero" faith in Johnson: "I don’t have a vote in the House but I’d strongly urge them to choose someone competent."
Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee agreed.
We’re going to need new leadership. We’ve got new leadership in the Senate in the coming year. And I believe that the writing’s on the wall, unless I’m just mistaken, it seems to me that new leadership in the House is almost inevitable.
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) suggested that Trump's 2025 agenda may not be as easy to pass as some Republicans — buoyed by the incoming president's decisive win, coupled with the GOP regaining control of the Senate and barely holding onto the House — might think.
The level of complexity and risks that have to be managed are very, very high — trying to get a lot done in an environment where you don’t have a lot of margin for error in terms of getting voting blocks.
[I hope things will] settle down a bit once we transition into next year and we can have more conversation with some of the people driving initiatives from the [Trump] administration.
But will things "settle down" in Congress — particularly in the House — in the coming year? Or, will congressional Republicans again be plagued by jockeying and infighting that has become all too common?
South Dakota Republican Sen. Mike Rounds told the Hill that Speaker Johnson will face a huge challenge in 2025, and as a result: "It’s going to be really hard in the House because they just simply don’t have a working majority."
Finally, Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, told the news outlet:
Reconciliation is not easy. It’s hard to fit things in. We’ve seen that demonstrated before. Next year’s going to be challenging.
So here we find ourselves. With all-but-guaranteed opposition to Trump's 2025 agenda by congressional Democrats and slim Republican majorities in both chambers of Congress, it's going to be a wild ride.
As Arkansas Republican Rep. Steve Womack put it, “Stay tuned. Buckle up. Strap in."
