House Republicans Need Resolve and Unity

Watching Biden, Harris, and Democrats run America into the ground is frustrating beyond belief. America is frustrated. Ours is not a parliamentary system. Unlike the British, we cannot oust a US president on a “no confidence” vote. That does NOT mean the US House is powerless. They can fight.

First, good people differ on how the Speakership unfolded, now behind us.  While my five years working with Gingrich made me a critic, thinking 222 seats in 435 demands unity, the opposing view is solid.

Many think what we just saw – the openness – strengthened the Republic, strengthened the new Speaker, strengthened the majority, and educated America – about how strongly conservatives feel. They also think concessions won in the process – needed to be won in public. They may be right.

Concessions – which include 72 hours to read a bill, chance for one member to call for a vote on the Speaker, promised votes on term limits, debt ceiling, and no more consolidated appropriations bills – are important. Making those concessions in public also has a way of keeping a Speaker honest.

All that aside, we are now in a battle for the Republic, holding just one chamber of Congress, and holding it by a single digit margin. We have a Speaker who is not a conservative, but knows that his fate is as dependent on conservatives as on anyone in the chamber. Where does that lead?

It leads to action, or should.  What we need now are a series of convincing House votes that do more than make statements. A unified Republican majority caucus needs to deliver on the majority. How do they do that?  Here are a few ways.

First, while the House vote this week to strip the 87,000 armed IRS agents from future appropriations, – and to theoretically un-fund them now – is important, we have two chambers in Congress. Unless the House and American people can get the Senate to back down, the prior funding bill is law.

In other words, House actions – and there should be hundreds – aimed at pushing accountability, solvency, and reversing much of the damage done by Biden and Democrats are important, but they are mere statements, unless the House can – with unity – force the Senate and President to abide.

Second, on the positive side, there are a number of ways – procedures – for forcing Senate and White House concurrence. These need to be dusted off and used. The most powerful way is putting reversals, recissions, and accountability provisions on “must sign” bills. 

By way of example, provisions that can be put into an authorization bill – unlike an appropriations bill – can be broad, may be unrelated to core subject matter of the bill. These should be taken advantage of.

Thus, when pushing a bill that authorizes a department, agency, or any federal action – such as raising the debt limit – the House should be able to press a number of legal restrictions, effectively “clawing back” money being wasted, misspent, and otherwise misused, by expressly restricting its use.

So, if we want to shrink the IRS, protect the border, build the wall, reopen the fossil fuel energy sector, up-fund law enforcement, restrict the Biden Administration’s ability to give away rights, privileges, and foreign aid; if we want to reaffirm the requirements of citizenship, cultural definitions, and re-empower parents at the local level; if we want to return power to states taken by the federal government, we can.

The way this is done is drafting restrictive language – and getting a unified Republican caucus, one where there is no light between members and established discipline in voting – to attach those provisions to these “must sign” bills.

Democrats will object, run to the press, make up horror stories, and pitch a fit, but if House Republicans stay unified, they will be able to both pass fiscally responsible appropriations bills AND restrictive language in these “must sign” authorization bills, in turn forcing tough Senate votes, and White House concessions.

Being a realist, as well as a conservative, my gut tells me that we will see some bills pass the House but fall in the Senate, or House Republicans get heavy pressure to crack from their Senate colleagues. While we will not get every bill out with provisions that begin restoring trust, responsibility, transparency, accountability, and some responsiveness to the American people, we will get some.

At the same time, since twice the number of Democrat Senators are up in two years than Republicans – a reversal from the 2022 cycle – Americans will also see where they voted, and a record will be made.

Finally, the Republican House – if they can coalesce around some conservative priorities – can become a bullhorn for these priorities, not least by conducting oversight hearings that pry loose critical documents, testimony, and accountability – in turn leading to education, resignations, impeachments, and criminal referrals.

Again, the realities of divided government – and we have let a weed garden grow in the past two years – means that getting documents will also be a fight, getting resignations from those with no shame will be a fight, getting impeachments to hold in the Senate will be a fight, and getting a politically compromised Justice Department leadership to act on criminal referrals will be a fight.

That said, perhaps this is where the real rubber meets the road. One way or the other, the Republican majority – which now has a leadership team – needs to look in the mirror, and NOT see titles, offices, positions, and press statements. They need to look in the mirror and see THE AMERICAN PEOPLE.

If this happens, they will be infused with the necessary courage to get things done, and prevent much of what the left wants done. If this happens, they will be energized to fight “the good fight.”  If this happens, they will see what we they should see – what most Americans who believe in the Republic see – a need to fight for core principles, the Bill of Rights, fiscal solvency, and an accountable government.

If we can start there, not only agree outside the government but inside the House Republican caucus – we have a fighting chance at restoring limited government, a government “of the people, by the people, and for the people,” reducing its size and power, regaining control. To do that, we will need resolve, consistency, and awareness of the stakes, and that elusive sauce – unity.

Robert Charles is a former Assistant Secretary of State under Colin Powell, former Reagan and Bush 41 White House staffer, attorney, and naval intelligence officer (USNR). He wrote “Narcotics and Terrorism” (2003), “Eagles and Evergreens” (2018), and is National Spokesman for AMAC.