Border security. Aid for Israel. Raising the cap on state and local tax deductions. A quixotic impeachment of a cabinet secretary. Congress face-planted on each one. House Republicans have had high-profile struggles in the last 14 months, careening from one self-inflicted crisis to the next. For some freshman lawmakers like Hudson Valley Republican Rep. Mike Lawler running in hotly contested races this November, the difficult week was an outgrowth of last year’s dysfunctional leadership fight. The failed votes “just reaffirms my view that removing Kevin McCarthy was the single stupidest move ever made in politics,” Lawler told Playbook. First-term lawmakers are trying to navigate a fractious chamber in a similarly restive political environment. Measures that Republicans from swing seats in New York campaigned on and are considered vital to retaining a GOP majority have been stuck in neutral. Increasingly it appears they’ll be facing voters without those agreements in hand. “We’re all going to have to find some compromise here,” Lawler said. “I’ve shown a willingness to do that. The frustration is the inability to find compromise or think strategically.” Democrats are prepared to pounce and turn the immigration issue back on the GOP. Gov. Kathy Hochul has predicted Republicans will pay a price this November after the Senate-negotiated border package crumbled amid GOP opposition. “They caved like a bunch of lemmings behind the chief lemming of all, Donald Trump,” Hochul told CNN. “There’s nine months between now and the election. The Republicans are going to wear this.” Hochul expects the dynamic will play out first in next week’s special election between Democrat Tom Suozzi and Republican-backed Mazi Pilip. But whether one week in February will be remembered by voters in November is an open question. And this criticism can cut both ways. Suozzi said he would have supported the House’s standalone bill for Israel aid, a Republican-supported measure that also went down in defeat this week, short-circuiting GOP criticism along the way. Democratic Rep. Pat Ryan didn’t. Republican Alison Esposito’s campaign blasted Ryan’s vote against it. “No matter what excuse he tries to come up with, actions speak louder than his empty words,” her campaign said in a statement. “Our great ally cannot wait any longer for the Democrats in Congress to finish their political games.” Ryan, the sole Democrat that Republicans are targeting this year in New York, knocked the “so-called moderates who say they came to DC to get stuff done.” He pointed to the lack of progress for raising the cap on the state and local tax deduction, known as SALT. “They had a choice this week. They could have passed legislation to secure the border and deliver relief with SALT reform,” he said in a statement. “Instead, they wasted time on a BS failed impeachment effort and did absolutely nothing on SALT. They care more about doing Trump and Stefanik’s bidding than delivering for their constituents.” And yet, Republicans believe they still have a winning issue with the migrant crisis, especially in New York, where they blame liberal policies that prevent police from working with ICE for making the situation worse. “I think it’s epic gaslighting for the Democrats to try to pin illegal immigration and the lack of border security on Republicans,” Rep. Nicole Malliotakis said, “when everyone knows it is Democrat policies at the federal, state and city that got us into this mess.” — Nick Reisman HAPPY FRIDAY. Got news? Send it our way: Jeff Coltin, Emily Ngo and Nick Reisman.
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