“In some ways, if we did really fast, easy, smooth, then you’d realize no one is paying attention to the scale of the problem,” Schweikert said. “The fact there’s fights is that there’s also the ultimate symbol that there’s an understanding of the scale of the debt, deficit, and demographic issues.”
Another moderate, Representative Brian Fitzpatrick, said he was not frustrated with his more conservative colleagues. “Everyone has the right to vote their district,” said Fitzpatrick, who represents a district President Joe Biden won in 2020, like Schweikert and Bacon. “I don’t judge them for managing their districts. I ask the same consideration from them.”
Still, this intraparty impasse appears likely to lead to a government shutdown. Representative Tim Burchett, who was among the small group of conservatives who temporarily blocked the House from moving forward on several bills in June, told me on Tuesday that he believed there would be a government shutdown at the end of the month. However, he believes there is “no civil war” among the GOP conference. He compared the Republican majority to how Democrats operated under former Speaker Nancy Pelosi.