House Leader Hakeem Jeffries wants to get rolling, he says, but the wheels have fallen off the right side of the vehicle. Jeffries is trying to make a political point of the fact that Democrats, while in the minority in the House, might just have a larger consensus right now than the majority Republican Party.
In a sort of preview of a 3-party system, the GOP’s present fragmentation makes it look like two different entities (at least), with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy — under enormous pressure from the right — so far unable to provide the glue, or a clue, about a potential resolution to the standoff.
As AP reports, “Speaker Kevin McCarthy was running out of options Monday as he pushed ahead with a plan to keep the federal government from shutting down, but even including hardline border security provisions wasn’t enough to appease the far-right flank in his Republican House majority.”
Jeffries sought to draw attention to the Democrats’ relatively unified position — making claims of a can-do attitude and willingness to work across the aisle. Promising a readiness to “find bipartisan common ground,” Jeffries intentionally highlights that the “other side can’t even find common ground with each other.” He tags the post with #RepublicanCivilWar.
One detractor asked the House leader in the comments “are you trying to incite (a civil war)?”
House Dems are ready, willing and able to find bipartisan common ground and solve problems for the American people.
— Hakeem Jeffries (@RepJeffries) September 19, 2023
What’s the issue?
The other side can’t even find common ground with each other.#RepublicanCivilWar
Another detractor says: “You have vilified, maligned, insulted and called your GOP counterparts names every friggin’ day for months. You called their plans and proposals unacceptable, ridiculous, destructive, radical and other conversation non starters. You just want more and more and more debt. Citizens money….spending the nation into an abyss of debt.”
Part of Jeffries’ point is that Republicans are also calling their own “proposals unacceptable, ridiculous, destructive” — if for different reasons. The most representative comment seemed to be this equal opportunity offender: “Good luck finding common ground on horrible policies from both sides.”
Jeffries sounds the same note as Joe Biden, talking about a “vision to put people over politics” and saying the job is to “make life more affordable for everyday Americans.” That sought-after affordability has been a thorn in Biden’s side as inflation, though down from its peak, continues to present struggles for many American families.
Yet the Democrats remain largely on the same policy page, distinguishing them from their Republican rivals — a distinction Jeffries seeks to own and amplify as McCarthy looks for answers.
We are fighting to make life more affordable for hardworking American taxpayers.
— Hakeem Jeffries (@RepJeffries) September 17, 2023
House Republicans are in the middle of a civil war. pic.twitter.com/2XrdVzi9jE
