Less than half of the Republican caucus opted to go to its own retreat at West Virginia’s Greenbrier Resort this week, resulting in an event jam-packed with unused room keys and empty tables rather than people—but even the small cohort that did attend went away unhappy.
“They should have opened the casino,” one GOP lawmaker told The Daily Beast, referring to a gambling hall in the basement that party leaders decided to keep closed.
The poorly attended event was just another mar on the record for a disjointed conservative party, which found itself condensing a two-and-a-half-day schedule into roughly 24 hours thanks to the tiny turnout. Rather than talk shop and make nice, lawmakers spent the day away at the hotel bar or out golfing, while others dipped out shortly after arriving. One GOP aide described attendance as “abysmal” in comparison to the weekly conference meetings, according to the outlet.
Invited guest speakers also opted not to join, including GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump and marquee speaker Fox News Business host Larry Kudlow, who pulled out of the event at the last minute.
Party members blasted Speaker Mike Johnson and the rest of the GOP leadership team for the lackluster affair, pointing to a lack of cohesion and unity that some claimed stemmed from the very top.
“Unity starts at the top,” one Republican told the Beast. “If you’re not unified as a leadership team, you’re not going to be unified as a body. It’s just not going to happen. So I think they need to build cohesiveness.”
Another claimed that Johnson didn’t have the same political pizzazz as his predecessor, ousted former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who was capable of pulling information from all sectors of the Republican caucus via a team of informants.
“I’m not sure that Speaker Mike Johnson has that or has even tried to bring that together,” the lawmaker said.
But Johnson had his own complaints, reportedly telling the conference that he’s been running on three hours of sleep since taking the gavel and battling “internecine warfare” between Republicans, according to Punchbowl News.
Altogether, it’s another bad omen for the health of the legislature, which is witnessing resignations en masse, citing similar complaints of Republican infighting and lack of competency. On Tuesday, Colorado Representative Ken Buck submitted his resignation in a hurry, giving less than two weeks’ notice for the historically coveted job, which surprised everyone, including his boss, Speaker Mike Johnson.