Any Republican on the ballot in 2024 faces the ugly prospect of being asked to defend Trump for the next three years, while getting nothing done on Capitol Hill.

Have you noticed the rush of House Republicans calling it quits in the last few weeks?

Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.) announced his exit Nov. 1. He explained that to be a member of the Republican House majority means putting up with  the “many Republican leaders [who] are lying to America, claiming that the 2020 election was stolen.”

Buck is predicting that even more House Republicans will leave “in the near future.”

The day before Buck said good-bye, House Appropriations Chair Kay Granger (R-Texas) also quit. Granger had been a leader among House Republicans who prevented the far-right, election-denying Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) from becoming Speaker of the House.

Also in October, Rep. Debbie Lesko (R-Ariz.) said she was quitting. “Right now, Washington, D.C. is broken,” she said. “It is hard to get anything done.”

  • wert_straffer@feddit.de
    0·
    1 year ago

    Is there ELI5 for us Europeans?

    Members of parliament are vacating their seat because they are not satisfied with what their party is doing? That would be seen as rather undemocratic over here. You would expect them to leave the party, maybe join a different one, or stay as an unaffilated member.

    What will happen with the empty seats?

    • Talaraine@kbin.social
      0·
      1 year ago

      Sounds like you got it alright. They’re resigning because they don’t want to be associated with ultra right wing fascists, which opens up their seat for ultra right wing fascists.

      Look, nobody accused Republicans of being intelligent.

      • wert_straffer@feddit.de
        0·
        1 year ago

        Everyone with two brain cells wants to stay away from facists, that part is clear.

        What i don‘t understan is why they are vacating their parliament seat. Wouldn‘t it be better to stay and vote with the democrats?

        Or better found a new conservative party? Considering there are several fed up members.

        Are they only leaving the parliament or also the party?

        • cfi@lemmy.world
          0·
          1 year ago

          The thing that is different about Congress is that Reps and Senators are free to vote with or against the rest of their party without any repercussions. We don’t have three line whips or anything like that here, so the party system isn’t as powerful. This is why Manchin could go against the Democratic Party agenda so frequently and the Democratic leadership couldn’t do anything about it.

          So in theory these Reps could stay Republican and vote with the Democrats, or go independent/libertarian/etc if they really want to make a break with the Republican label. Staying or changing parties really doesn’t matter except in how it defines the majority party in each house, and also practically as to what legislation is likely to get brought to a vote per the Hastert Rule or the Standing Rules of the Senate.

          So this all can go to explain why they’re not changing parties or who they caucus with. It still leaves the question of why they’re choosing to leave rather than remain and affect change from within. Answer: They don’t care about the country or the party. They were here for power, the lobbying money, the post politics sinecures, etc. Now that all of that is gone, they have decided to cut and run. They are abandoning ship now in the hopes that they can get the best life raft.