Yesterday, on NBC’s “Meet the Press”, Representatives Dave Brat, R-Va., and Charlie Dent, R-Pa., discussed the big problem taking place within the GOP-controlled House of Representatives.
Brat is part of the GOP’s Freedom Caucus, which consists of the ultra-conservative, right-wing, members of the House. They are uncompromising, and they are willing to shut down the United States government unless they get 100% of their demands.
Dent is a moderate Republican who believes that compromise is necessary in the real world to properly govern.
As summarized on NBCNews.com:
Brat charged that Dent “wants to kick us out of our conference for voting our conscience” — which Dent denied. But [Dent] doubled down on his criticism of Brat’s wing, saying it’s time to “marginalize” members “who don’t want to govern.” He continued, “we have to get our act together.”
. . .
Dent further defended moderate Republicans joining with Democrats to force a vote to reopen the controversial Export-Import Bank. “Some of us, the governing wing, want to use the process to advance good legislation. Others want to use the process to obstruct us from considering good legislation,” Dent said.
Because the GOP’s Freedom Caucus makes up a significant portion of the House of Representative, the more moderate Republican members are going to have to come to the realization that they are going to have to garner the support of moderate Democrats in the House in order to elect a Speaker of the House and get legislation passed.
