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In politics, there’s something inherently liberating about a retirement announcement. Once officials know they’ll soon be out of office, and they no longer have reason to fear political repercussions, they often become less guarded and more candid.
Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger, for example, has seen his relationship with the House GOP conference deteriorate over the last several months, and in a new Wall Street Journal op-ed, the Illinois congressman, who’ll soon give up his seat on Capitol Hill, is largely unrestrained in his criticisms of his party.
“The Republican Party I joined decades ago is unrecognizable today,” Kinzinger wrote. “It has favored conspiracy theories over truth, anger over hope, and division over problem solving. As I serve my final months in Congress, I find I am left carrying the torch for the values and principles of a party that’s been overtaken by partisan politicos looking for the limelight and clinging to their sense of power instead of upholding their oaths of office.”
Rep. Fred Upton isn’t going nearly that far, but as HuffPost noted, the retiring Michigan Republican isn’t altogether pleased with the state of his GOP conference, either.
A retiring Republican lawmaker says the extremist members of his party could make it difficult for the GOP to govern if they retake control of the House of Representatives in November with a slim majority. “It will be very hard to govern for Republicans if we’re under 230, knowing that we’ve got the [Marjorie Taylor Greene] element that’s really not a part of a governing majority,” Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday.
To be sure, Upton, a center-right lawmaker for the last 35 years, believes his party is quite likely to retake the House majority next year. But the Michigan Republican fears that if the GOP advantage is modest, the party’s far-right extremists will use their leverage and make legislating all but impossible.
If this dynamic sounds at all familiar, it’s not your imagination: During Barack Obama’s presidency, then-House Speaker John Boehner often struggled at even the most basic legislative tasks because his far-right flank ignored directions from party leaders. Ironically, this occasionally forced Boehner to make concessions to Democrats, who were more amenable to deal-making, in order to approve must-pass bills.
As the transcript from NBC News shows, Upton conceded that Congress has always had some “wild types,” but in response to a question from host Chuck Todd, the congressman added that far-right members such as Greene, Lauren Boebert, and Paul Gosar are breaking new ground.
“I don’t think we’ve had as many folks in that sort of wing of the party elected as we have before,” Upton said.
“What does that tell you about the Republican Party?” the “Meet the Press” host asked.
“Troubled waters, I guess you could say,” Upton replied.
The assessment is more than fair given the circumstances, but the latest polling suggests much of the electorate either doesn’t know or doesn’t care about the Republican Party’s extremists, their influence, or the degree to which they’ve pushed the GOP into “troubled waters.”