Leadership Fight Could Shape GOP-Controlled Congress

If Republicans win Congress on Election Day, they better get their act together.

Voters are frustrated and disappointed with the party in power. An overwhelming 88% of Americans say the country is on the wrong track. These kinds of polls historically reflect poorly on the sitting president. And historically, an unpopular sitting president is a drag on his party during the midterms.

Biden is so unpopular, a majority (64%) of Democrats do not want him to run again in 2024. And despite their attempt to make this election about the Republican “threat to democracy,” voters see through the claptrap and are more concerned about inflation, crime and education — three issues Democrats are afraid to confront.

While we need a party that will pump the brakes on President Biden’s failed, far-left agenda, GOP-controlled congresses tend to disappoint. If the American people give Republicans a chance this November, they will be entrusted with a great responsibility — the responsibility to actually make a change.

Already, congressional Republicans are embroiled in a fight for leadership. So far, the conflict has gone relatively undetected. But the grassroots should push for it to break out openly — and force Republicans to take recorded votes showing who they support for party leadership.

Voters want to know that the real conservatives in the party are vying for leadership, and will not sit back and watch the status quo leaders act weakly in the majority.

Obviously, questions about congressional leadership are important. And that means the players are important, and conservative grassroots need to know who is who in these leadership fights.

It may seem like inside-the-beltway drama, but if it doesn’t result in strong conservative leadership, Republicans will have failed their voters’ ultimatum. So, we need to pay attention.

Assuming Republicans take the House, Kevin McCarthy will likely become speaker. If history is any indication, he’ll not be aggressively conservative and will largely seek to preserve the status quo. That’s not good, but there are other positions that matter as well.

For example, who will be majority whip? This is a very powerful position, and McCarthy’s guy is Tom Emmer, an establishment mouthpiece who has run afoul of many prominent Republicans.

“Tom Emmer is stuck in a place no Republican politician wants to be: on the wrong side of Tucker Carlson and Donald Trump Jr.,” Politico reported. It appears that Emmer has been leaking defamatory information about Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., to the media, as both men are vying for the Whip position.

Banks is the more conservative, preferred alternative and would be much better than Emmer from a grassroots and Freedom Caucus perspective. Tucker Carlson and Trump Jr. have aligned themselves with Banks. McCarthy and former Freedom Caucus chair Rep. Andy Biggs among others support the more moderate Emmer.

If you want conservative policy out of the House, you’re unlikely to get it from the combination of McCarthy and Emmer. Banks will add balance and give the more conservative wing of the caucus a voice.

To further complicate things, Drew Ferguson is also running for the position. He has the support of Rep. Steve Scalise, who is expected to become majority leader if Republicans win the House.

Is this all inside baseball? Yes, but these things should matter to anyone who cares what happens in January 2023. And that should matter to every grassroots conservative.

This is the difference between whether Republicans deliver on their promises, or we just get more of the same.

On the Senate side of the struggle, things are not looking any better. Arguably, they are worse.

Republicans Mitch McConnell and Rick Scott are in an open fight “over who will get the credit for a big win — and who will bear the blame if the party falls short,” CNN reported.

McConnell’s top priority has been to protect safe, establishment candidates (and his own reputation). Scott, on the other hand, supported the “riskier” nominees that McConnell refused to back. McConnell pulled money from the Don Bolduc Senate race in New Hampshire and Blake Masters in Arizona. Rick Scott filled the hole and went all in.

Maybe Republican nominees failed to meet a picky McConnell’s personal standards, but to throw a hand grenade in his own foxhole was really bad leadership. I don’t know if this positions Rick Scott to run to replace McConnell, but it should.

If anything, it will boost Republican voters’ opinion of Scott, who some speculate may be considering a presidential run. It certainly opens a lane for Scott to challenge McConnell for Senate Majority Leader. And even a challenge would be a good thing.

None of this is new. Politics is, unfortunately, an ugly game of ruthless strategy. It happens within both parties. The particulars may have changed this time around, but the central conflict is the same.

Though they usually don’t pay attention after the election, voters should be very concerned about the coming leadership fights in the Republican Party. At a minimum, they should demand open, recorded votes for leadership.

We have a right to know who our representatives and senators choose to lead them in the upcoming Congress. Rest assured our elected officials won’t want to be on the record on these votes, which tells us they absolutely should be forced into transparency on the matter.

When the American people cast their vote on Election Day, they won’t be thinking about who the leaders of the Republican Party will be when Congress convenes in January. But they should be.

The congressional leadership chosen by the Republican Party post-election will determine whether they will actually deal with the real and difficult issues facing voters, or they will simply wallow in the status quo.

If the nation sends a majority of Republicans to Congress, the voters will expect action on the important issues — who the Republicans pick to lead their caucus will be key in whether the American people get what they voted for Election Day.