2024 Rundown: MAGA Meltdown

The Republican party is unraveling rapidly just eight months before a major election.

The Republican party is tearing itself apart. 

Another House member announced his retirement in April, bringing the Republican House majority down to a single vote. At the same time, Marjorie Taylor Greene announced articles to potentially oust Speaker Johnson for bringing forward a budget that passed the House with more Democrat votes than Republican, which is how all major bills have passed the House since Republicans got the majority.

This is less than a year after MAGA Republicans ousted Speaker McCarthy because he agreed to a debt ceiling solution that allowed the federal government to continue to operate. MAGA wanted to use that moment as a means to shut down the government, as they’ve also been trying to do with the budget for almost six months.

All of this also shows the rampant inexperience and inability to govern within the MAGA movement. When Matt Gaetz brought forward the motion to vacate Speaker McCarthy, he seemed to expect Democrats to save McCarthy, which would have allowed Gaetz to complain about the “uniparty” for months on end. Since McCarthy’s ousting, Gaetz has attempted to shift blame away from himself by citing right-wing articles that claimed it was the Democrats’ fault because if they hadn’t also voted to oust McCarthy, then he would still be Speaker.

McCarthy resigned from Congress after being removed as Speaker and has since worked on finding candidates to primary some of the vulnerable MAGA members who voted against him, such as Nancy Mace. McCarthy was also one of the GOP’s best fundraisers, and the Republican party is having serious fundraising issues. 

Trump’s campaign raised $20 million in February, bringing their cash on hand to a total of $42 million. The Trump campaign has been spending more than it brings in for months due to Trump’s legal fees and low fundraising. The Biden campaign raised $53 million in February and currently has $155 million in cash on hand.

Trump’s PACs also have less money than the Biden PAC, and Trump’s PACs have been spending more than they are bringing in, just like his campaign has been. The RNC is low on cash and just announced that it will spend money on Trump’s legal fees before spending money on other Republican candidates, whereas the DNC is loaded with cash and ready to help Democrats up and down the ballot.

When Republican Representative Ken Buck announced he was retiring before the end of his term, he was asked if he was receiving pressure from his colleagues about his retirement. Buck’s response was: "I think it's the next three people that leave that they're going to be worried about."

Now, Republican Representative Mike Gallagher has announced he will retire in April, bringing the Republican House Majority down to a single vote. If Buck was correct and two more Republicans retire before the end of their terms, then Republicans could lose their majority altogether, depending on when special elections are held and the results of those elections.

Speaker Johnson recently held a House Republican retreat to build unity among Republicans and tell them to stop campaigning against each other because it was hurting Republicans overall. Many House Republicans bemoaned the event, and Matt Gaetz specifically stated he wasn’t swayed by Johnson’s plea and said he would continue to go after Republicans that he felt weren’t MAGA enough.

The Republican-led House of Representatives is already the least productive House in a century, and that doesn’t seem likely to improve this year. With the talk of ousting Johnson and far-right Republicans continuing to focus on obstructing major legislation such as border bills and foreign aid, the House begins another two-week recess at the end of the day.

Even worse for Republicans, they are now having to admit their biggest failures just months away from a major election. James Comer announced on Newsmax today that the Biden impeachment isn’t happening. The House doesn’t have the votes or the evidence, and the hearings continue to be an embarrassment for Republicans. 

The impeachment was known to be a sham from the start. Senate Republicans had already made a report finding no wrongdoing by President Biden when they investigated the fake conspiracy that was created by Rudy Giuliani at Trump’s request. Recently, the main informant at the core of the impeachment was unmasked as a Russian asset who had lied about everything, yet Comer and Jim Jordan attempted to continue the impeachment inquiry after that revelation only to have another hearing blow up in their faces this past week.

There is simply no way to look at what is happening with the Republican party, the RNC, Trump’s campaign, and the House of Representatives and not see that the GOP is unraveling due to the destructive and chaotic influence of MAGA members.

Many Republicans had warned that voting Donald Trump to be the leader of the Republican party would destroy them, and that is exactly what is happening.