A small but significant number of moderate GOP lawmakers are plotting a path toward potentially working with Democrats to fund the government past Sept. 30 and combat a shutdown.
At least three Republicans — Reps. Mike Lawler (N.Y.), Don Bacon (Neb.) and Brian Fitzpatrick (Pa.) — have expressed an openness to joining Democrats in signing a discharge petition, a mechanism to force a vote on a measure against the wishes of the Speaker.
Four members of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus introduced a bill Friday that reflects the group’s framework for a short-term stopgap funding measure. Fitzpatrick suggested Sunday that lawmakers could use a discharge petition to compel a vote on that legislation.
Five Republicans would need to join their party’s leaders in order to force action with Democrats.
Are there five moderate Republicans? I’m surprised there are three at this point.
There are 14 current Republicans in Congress whose district voted for Biden for President in 2020, so ar least those Republicans need to acknowledge that they can’t get too extreme if they hope to be reelected. Supporting a compromise measure that had bi-partisan support last time seems to be a slam-dunk win for them.
“If Speaker McCarthy relies on Democrats to pass a continuing resolution, I would call the Capitol moving truck to his office pretty soon, because my expectation would be he’d be out of the Speaker’s office quite promptly,” Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) told reporters last week.
This tells you everything you need to know about how extreme most of the Republican party is. Just the idea of compromising with Democrats to maintain current funding levels and not shut down the government is enough to be seen as extreme.
