It’s hard to overstate the animosity that House GOP leaders feel for outside tea party groups these days.
Republicans are bashing conservative activists as a bunch of cynical, money-hungry opportunists after they attacked party leaders for surrendering on the debt limit Tuesday.
“$$$$$$$,” emailed one senior Republican aide, who was granted anonymity to respond candidly to the conservative groups.
“Every once in a while,” the aide said, “I see a Fire Boehner sponsored tweet, think it’s the Dems, notice it’s one of them, and realize they are working harder on behalf of liberals than anyone at the [Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee].”
Within the House GOP, there was a mix of disappointment and resignation, but no overt rebellion against Speaker John Boehner. But outside tea party outfits seized on the fundraising opportunity at GOP leaders’ expense. “John Boehner must be replaced as Speaker of the House,” declared Matt Hoskins of the Senate Conservatives Fund in a email asking for donations moments after the news broke. The Club For Growth was outraged: “[W]e thought it was a joke. But it’s not,” said Andy Roth, the group’s top congressional lobbyist. “Something is very wrong with House leadership, or with the Republican Party.”
The move was indeed a surrender for Republicans — a fairly predictable one. So predictable that hard-right organizations have been appropriately skeptical that they could win a debt limit fight, staying largely silent throughout the debate, and refraining from proposing an alternate way forward.
“A lot of the groups that are blasting the ‘clean’ debt limit increase have never explained what – if anything – they would actually support,” said a second senior House Republican aide. “They’re just sending out emails with a big ‘donate’ button embedded in them.”
Boehner, seeing no better options, brought up a “clean” debt limit bill on Tuesday and it passed with mostly Democratic votes. It’s the latest sign that although the tea party retains the ability to block new economic and domestic initiatives, it has lost its ability to hold the basic functions of government hostage to conservative policy reforms.
FreedomWorks called it “an all-time low for Speaker Boehner,” pushing lawmakers to vote down the debt limit bill.
The tug-of-war between conservative activists and the Republican establishment has been increasingly acrimonious since the 2012 elections. GOP leaders believe these groups live in a fantasy world and are endangering the party and its ability to move the needle to the right. The groups say Republican leaders are cowards who refuse to take risks to advance important conservative causes.
Boehner publicly went after the tea party groups in December, saying they had “lost all credibility” and were “using” House Republicans to achieve their goals. He has privately urged his members not to let outside entities call the shots.
On that front, he achieved just enough support Tuesday to avert a catastrophic debt default, but it’s clear the tea party still carries sway: just 28 Republicans voted for the bill; 199 voted against it — including House GOP Conference Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (WA), whom the party tapped to respond to the president’s State of the Union speech last month.
