WASHINGTON (Nexstar) – Democratic members of the U.S. House, and even some Republicans, worry that the chaotic speaker elections could foreshadow possible dysfunction in the House over the next two years.
Under Republican control, Democrats say the chaos and division on full display in the Republican party is a sign of things to come.
Congresswomen Jasmine Crockett and Dina Titus say the difficulty of electing a speaker foreshadows how the House will operate with a Republican majority.
“The party that allegedly is in control is anything but in control right now,” Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) said.
Rep. Dina Titus (D-NV) added “If you can’t organize, how are you going to pass policy? And that’s what the Republicans are showing, a lot of confusion and chaos.”
Critics say the infighting among Republicans could jeopardize the passage of critical measures like raising the debt ceiling and approving budgets.
Additionally, Democrats say it could prevent Republicans from advancing their own priorities.
“Honestly, if a lot of their bills fail, I’m okay with that as well because I don’t anticipate that they’re going to put the most progressive bills on the table anyway,” Crockett said.
Meanwhile, Republicans are also worried.
Rep. John Curtis (R-UT) questioned, “Will this be how we function over the next two years?”
Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-SD) furthered, “Anyone who thinks that ‘Oh… now it’s all sunshine and roses’ clearly isn’t paying attention.”
Still, congressmen Dusty Johnson and John Curtis are hoping for the best.
“We will have worked out some things that we had to get worked out and that’s going to give us a better chance of success for the next 23 months,” Johnson said.
Curtis added “to the extent that we’re having good, thoughtful debate, I’m encouraged by that. The other side of that is this is, of course, this debate has gone on for too long and too far.”
