On Capitol Hill, GOP fighting itself

When Republicans took full control of Congress this year, they were determined to show voters they could govern responsibly. Instead they’ve been tearing each other apart in extraordinarily public displays, delighting Democrats and giving some in the GOP heartburn as the party aims for the White House in 2016.

Just a few days ago, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz took to the Senate floor to accuse Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of lying, provoking a public dressing-down from top GOP senators.

A second tea party-backed senator, Mike Lee of Utah, had to dispense mea culpas to McConnell and others after an aide’s email surfaced suggesting outside groups should punish fellow Republicans for their votes.

And in the latest episode of Republican vs. Republican savagery in less than a week, a conservative lawmaker, Rep. Mark Meadows of North Carolina, filed a resolution Tuesday evening aimed at unseating GOP House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio.

“You got a member here and a member there who are off the reservation,” Boehner told reporters. “No big deal.”

But the effort was enthusiastically cheered by some conservative groups that promised to use Congress’ upcoming August recess to pressure House Republicans to support it – a period Republican leaders had hoped to use to build unified opposition to President Barack Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran.

“What people are doing is basically creating an issue within the party that distracts us from focusing on winning in 2016, that focuses us away from the real big issue, and that is the deterioration of national security, Iran’s bad deal, Hillary Clinton’s problems,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who like Cruz is running for president.

Alluding to Meadows, Graham said: “I would say to the gentleman from North Carolina, the biggest beneficiary of your actions has been Hillary Clinton and the ayatollah.”

For his part Meadows, a two-term lawmaker elected in the tea party-backed 2010 class, accused Boehner in his resolution of centralizing power, bypassing members of Congress and the public, punishing those who disagree with him and causing the power of Congress to atrophy. “This is really more about an issue of fairness,” he said.