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Throughout his time on Capitol Hill, Rep. Darrell Issa has been known to rub some people the wrong way. In one especially memorable example from 2016, then-President Barack Obama publicly chided the California Republican for spending years recklessly going after him, only to pretend to be an Obama ally when running for re-election.
But it’s not just Democrats who occasionally get annoyed with Issa.
At a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing about the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, members took turns asking questions to former military officials who were involved with the operation. When Issa’s allotted time expired, Committee Chairman Michael McCaul tried to move on to the next lawmaker, only to have Issa keep talking.
It led McCaul to quietly mutter to Issa, “Go f--- yourself.” (Note, the audio is a little difficult to hear, but given the language, it should probably come with a “not safe for work” warning.)
As NBC News reported, the Texas Republican who leads the panel apologized soon after.
McCaul apologized in a statement, saying, “It was a long day, and I lost my temper.” ... “That is uncharacteristic of me and I apologize to Mr. Issa, who I consider a friend,” he added.
Issa laughed it off and there’s no reason to think this will lead to a larger controversy. That said, it’s not every day when a powerful committee chairman directs such coarse language at a colleague from his own party, and it was emblematic of the House GOP’s broader issues.
After all, this comes on the heels of an annual House Republican retreat — ostensibly focused on “unifying the conference“ — which most GOP members decided to skip.
One lawmaker told reporters for Axios and Politico, in reference to the conference’s retreat, “I’d rather sit down with Hannibal Lecter and eat my own liver.”
Or put another way, members of the House Republican Conference were divided over an event intended to unify.
What’s more, resignations in the GOP-led chamber have reached a generational high; legislative progress has slowed to a pace unseen in nearly a century; lawmakers are struggling mightily to complete basic tasks; and it’s become increasingly easy to argue that this is the worst Congress ever.
A recent Punchbowl News report concluded, “This is the most chaotic, inefficient and ineffective majority we’ve seen in decades covering Congress.”
It was against this backdrop that the Republican chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee was heard telling one of his GOP colleagues, “Go f--- yourself,” which helped encapsulate the troubles affecting the hapless majority conference.