Frustration is growing in both parties on Capitol Hill because pressing national issues are going unaddressed, which has led to some questioning whether the gridlock will hurt the Republican Party, which controls both chambers of Congress.
Republicans were swept into power on promises of getting Washington working again. But Congress is in recess this week after failing to address the administration's request to combat the Zika Virus, the water crisis in Flint, Michigan, the war against the Islamic State, and House leaders had their budget derailed.
“This is not our finest hour," says retiring Virginia Republican Scott Rigell.
He fears his party will have a hard time retaining power if they can't even pass a budget, as the GOP promised voters they would. But Tea Party-tinged Republicans derailed the budget effort because they argue the party should be having a debate over balancing the budget.
Virginia Republican Dave Brat says House leaders caved early and didn't fight for conservative principles. Brat says, “So if you want to do a House bill, good, let’s do a House bill without waving any white flag. Let’s do a balanced budget, you save $540 billion, then negotiate with the Senate and the White House after you do a house bill. But now after you wave a white flag and give up all leverage, no, I can’t go forward on that.”
Democrats are loving watching the GOP infighting.
Virginia Congressman Gerry Connolly says, “One needs to always be careful about being holier than though. So Republicans not only came in with spit fire on the issue of passing a budget and pointing a very judgmental finger at Democrats, but they even went further. They called the wrong bluff by saying members shouldn’t get paid unless you pass a budget. It’s that fundamental, that basic.” Connolly wants Republicans to ante up. “So I call on those Republicans who signed such legislation to write a check to the US treasury refunding it for that portion of their salary on some of them unless we pass a budget.”
Virginia Republican Morgan Griffith says it's good he and other far right wing conservatives are trying to move their party leaders to the right. He says, “We have to get more people willing to look outside the traditional box so to speak.”
And when it comes to the promise of rank and file Republicans to restore budgeting in Washington, Griffith says just passing a bloated spending blueprint isn't good enough. “I think it’s more important to put forward the right budget," says Griffith.
But with Congress spinning its wheels on everything from funding the government to protecting pregnant women from the Zika Virus, Congressman Rigell says something needs to change in Washington. “I’m convinced that the American people are not as divided as this institution, specifically the House of Representatives. But we have bifurcated ourselves as a country through hyper-redistricting,” says Rigell.
Rigell isn't seeking reelection so he's able to speak more frankly than his colleagues. He says unlike his purple district in the southeast part of the commonwealth, most other members serve gerrymandered districts that are unrepresentative.
He says, “We’ve become increasingly more sophisticated in our ability to draw the lines. At one point we understood how a state would vote, then we got down to counties, then we got down to cities and towns and then neighborhoods. Now we’re down to 1301 Johnson Rd. votes Republican and 1303 votes Democrat.”
Rigell is hoping to continue to work on congressional reforms when he leaves Washington. He says, “We can do something about this. We don’t have to, it’s going to take a while, it’s not going to be easy and it’s not going to be perfect. But just about anything we do is better off-we’d be better off than where we are now.”
