Mar 13, 2024 - 14:17
By huffpost.com

House Republican Infighting Badly Cuts Attendance At Annual GOP Event: Reports

Republicans are avoiding the annual House GOP retreat in droves because of dissension in their ranks, CNN reported Tuesday.

Not even 100 confirmed their attendance ― less than half of those who occupy the GOP side of the aisle ― an unnamed source who’s “familiar with the attendance sheet” told the cable news channel.

The retreat begins Wednesday at the Greenbrier resort in West Virginia, missing prominent House members Matt Gaetz (Fla.), Nancy Mace (SC), Tim Burchett (Tenn.), Mark Green (Tenn.) and many others, CNN reported. A keynote speaker, Fox News’ Larry Kudlow, dropped out at the last minute.

While some lawmakers publicly cited excuses for their absence, many told CNN they were not crazy about hanging out with colleagues while discord compromises their voting power.

USA Today reported that many members who are not attending were “harboring frustration and exhaustion at the infighting that has locked down the party’s ability to govern.”

A House Republican speaking anonymously told the newspaper that the intra-party conflicts had left the lawmaker “tired.”

Another said the GOP’s hardliner faction is “wearing everyone out.”

Much of the tension traces back to far-right Republicans leading the ouster of Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) to plunge the chamber “into chaos,” the New York Times reported back in October.

The retreat is generally for Republicans to huddle over policy in a relaxed environment, but one, Rep. Eli Crane (Ariz.), said the gathering is “not productive,” USA Today wrote.