Ryan And Meadows Erupt Into Shouting Match On House Floor Over Immigration

House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wis., speaks at his weekly press conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Nov. 17, 2016. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wis., speaks at his weekly news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Nov. 17, 2016. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
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As House Republicans wrestled Wednesday over what to do about their various immigration bills, frustration boiled over when House Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows (R-NC) and House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) confronted each other furiously on the House floor, per a Thursday Politico report.

The two were reportedly gesticulating wildly at each other as Meadows cried, “I don’t care anymore,” saying “I’m done” to other people present. According to Politico, at the time, Meadows was involved in talks about the conservative and moderate immigration bills, both of which require his support.

Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-FL) reportedly joined the fray, prompting Meadows to exclaim (politely) “I’ll sign the dang discharge petition. I don’t care anymore.”

Curbelo led the moderate Republican effort to, among other things, finally bring a floor vote on DACA.

According to Politico, it is unclear exactly what Meadows’ anger stemmed from, but the general consensus is that Meadows felt jerked around by GOP leadership, who felt jerked around by Meadows and his powerful caucus.

Meadows spoke to reporters after the altercation. “Oh, no. I was passionate. I was not yelling,” he said. “I think at this particular point, the compromise bill is not ready for prime time. There are things that are supposed to be in the compromise bill that are not in the compromise bill that we had all agreed to.” He declined to expand further.

As Politico points out, Meadows and his caucus wield enormous power among House Republicans and could easily kill any immigration bill package that comes to the floor. How the bills fare Thursday will be a direct reflection on the power of President Donald Trump to unite his fractured party.

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Notable Replies

  1. Mark Meadows (R-NC) and House Speaker Paul Ryan (D-WI) confronted each other furiously on the House floor, per a Thursday Politico report.

    When did Ryan become a Democrat?

  2. Never mind the bill, dude. It’s your whole misbegotten party that isn’t ready for prime time, and hasn’t been for decades. #MAGA

  3. I’ve often wondered why Meadows and his assholes call themselves the freedom caucus. Freedom for who and from what?

  4. Avatar for sanni sanni says:

    So two powerful dudes - bent on breaking America in service to the Koch brothers - got caught up in the pressure cooker-bomb the President and his Millerite/Bannonist set into play be ripping migrant children from the arms of their parents.

    In short - being bent on breaking America is still the common goal - but from time to time the optics are so bad that the complete bamboozlement of half of America starts to slip resulting in voter and then MasterofChaosinChief turmoil - and then their tempers’ flare.

    Got it.

  5. Notably absent from all of these goings on: any adults. You know: the folks with D after their names.

    ETA: Even if TPM tries to make Ryan a D.

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