INSIDER: Are Republicans trying to lose the House? Sure looks like it

Views and opinions expressed are solely those of the author.

It’s a given that Democrats would sooner drink a bottle of Drano before doing anything to give a win to President Trump, making every Republican vote crucial with a razor-thin majority in the House of Representatives.

That’s what makes the refusal of a handful of grandstanding narcissists to be team players all the more frustrating, and on Friday, the president’s “big, beautiful bill” was torpedoed by the friendly fire of five GOP lawmakers who joined their left-wing colleagues to prevent it from getting out of committee, depriving Trump of the courtesy of a full floor vote in the latest embarrassment for a party that never fails to fail.

Amid rumblings that the bill was in trouble thanks to Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) and other refuseniks, Trump urged them to “quit talking” and get the job done.

A message from President Trump for Republicans on Capitol Hill: pic.twitter.com/bMtTHSsdJX

— Karoline Leavitt (@PressSec) May 16, 2025

“Republicans MUST UNITE behind, ‘THE ONE, BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL!’ Not only does it cut Taxes for ALL Americans, but it will kick millions of Illegal Aliens off of Medicaid to PROTECT it for those who are the ones in real need. The Country will suffer greatly without this Legislation, with their Taxes going up 65%. It will be blamed on the Democrats, but that doesn’t help our Voters. We don’t need “GRANDSTANDERS” in the Republican Party. STOP TALKING, AND GET IT DONE!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Unable to just suck it up, put their egos in check and give their own party’s president a big win, the fab five instead threw Democrats and their media a lifeline and days of headlines exploiting the disunity in the House caucus instead of having to cover Trump’s historic week of accomplishments in the Middle East.

JUST ANNOUNCED: The Big Beautiful Budget Bill has FAILED 16-21 in the House Budget Committee vote

5 Republican NO votes:
Chip Roy, TX
Josh Brecheen, OK.
Andrew Clyde, GA.
Ralph Norman, SC
Lloyd Smucker, PA. pic.twitter.com/ICzCmesr4M

— AJ Huber (@Huberton) May 16, 2025

Roy likes to present himself as a rootin’ tootin’ Texan, but he was born in Bethesda, Maryland, a practical stone’s throw from the D.C. Beltway, where he now plies his trade, and raised in Virginia. A member of Congress since 2019, he is short on accomplishments other than kicking Trump in the shins and he has now struck again. Roy’s Colonel Sanders goatee, volcanic rants, and endless supply of profane and pithy quotes have made him into a Fox News favorite, but if Republicans go on to lose the House, he should be fitted for a pair of goat horns.

While Trump did not mention Roy by name in calling for grandstanding to be put aside, he did blast him back in December

“The very unpopular ‘Congressman’ from Texas, Chip Roy, is getting in the way, as usual, of having yet another Great Republican Victory – All for the sake of some cheap publicity for himself. Republican obstructionists have to be done away with,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, suggesting that a primary challenge might be in order.

And as the old Greek proverb goes, “a fish rots from the head down,” and the brunt of the blame if Republicans squander Trump’s mandate and turn the House back over to the impeachment party lies with Speaker Mike Johnson, perhaps the most feckless weasel to ever wield the gavel.

A competent leader would have whipped his party into line. Democrats always manage to get something that simple done, and for all of their faults, they stick together. Other than a few exceptions, Johnson’s tenure as Speaker would have to qualify as a miserable failure, perhaps even making some long for the days of Kevin McCarthy.

Even before Friday’s dismal showing, the so-called majority hasn’t done jack when it comes to passing bills to advance Trump’s agenda.

And what the hell happened to no tax on Social Security?

With every vote being crucial next November, is it really a wise idea to take a dump on seniors? If they were smart, the Democrats could run on that issue alone in the next two elections and cruise to a comfortable House majority and whittle down their deficit in the Senate, perhaps retaking control by capitalizing on the GOP House refusal to deliver on Trump’s campaign promise to retirees.

It’s still possible that the quintet could be placated and the bill can advance. In a Friday afternoon post to X, Roy appeared to be engaging in a bit of damage control, possibly feeling the heat from critics who are pointing the finger at the repeat offender and want him to get with the program.

We were making progress, but the vote was called, and the problems were not resolved, so I voted no. I am staying in Washington this weekend to deliver. Medicaid Work requirements must start NOW not 2029 & the Green New Scam must be fully repealed, as President Trump called for. pic.twitter.com/2305O08E8M

— Chip Roy (@chiproytx) May 16, 2025

Roy once quipped that a debt deal with former President Joe Biden was like a “turd-sandwich,” and he and his fellow renegades could be choking one down come November 2026 if the failure to deliver on Trump’s agenda results in Speaker Hakeem Jeffries unleashing his lynch mob on Trump and other top administration officials.

It’s important to point out that if it wasn’t for Trump, the Republican Party would be pretty much irrelevant, and if the House doesn’t get its act together, it may be back on the path soon if voters don’t see any reason to turn out next year.

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