A Republican family feud spilled out into public eye Wednesday when Rep. Byron Donalds angrily confronted Speaker Mike Johnson about a lack of legislative action.
And warring factions chose sides.
“Byron Donalds is more and more frequently being obnoxious towards the speaker. Angry at the time it’s taking. Parroting [Rep.] Chip [Roy]. I don’t mind making one’s point but the rudeness is uncalled for,” one GOP lawmaker who took issue with Donalds’ tone told the Daily Beast.
“He did the same in Miami,” the Republican House member added, referring to the House GOP retreat last week.
But Donalds, a Florida conservative, shot back at his colleagues’ criticisms.
“Everybody’s frustrated,” he told the Daily Beast. “If they think it’s rude to have a direct conversation with the leadership, as opposed to everybody slapping each other on the back, then so be it.”
Donalds, who is mulling a run for governor of Florida, insisted, “That’s not rude. That’s being direct, and that’s actually laying out exactly what the issues are in front of us and trying to help everybody arrive at a decision.”
The uproar comes as House GOP lawmakers are debating how best to pack President Donald Trump’s top policy priorities into legislation tackling tax cuts, immigration, energy regulations, the debt ceiling, and spending cuts. Much of the argument centers over whether to pass one bill, or two.
Some House GOP lawmakers are accusing their leadership of paralysis.
Donalds said if his colleagues have an issue with his approach “they can come see me. They know where I am.”
The tensions came to light during a closed-door conference meeting on Wednesday, with the Florida Republican telling Johnson accused GOP leaders of failing to take decisive action on a path forward despite months of discussions and breakout sessions, sources in the room told the Daily Beast.
Donalds isn’t alone in his frustrations. Other GOP lawmakers have expressed anger that the first step in the process of advancing legislation has been delayed and stymied by disagreements among Republicans.
“This isn’t rocket science,” one Republican who requested anonymity to speak freely told the Beast, arguing they’re tired of “listening sessions over and over and over again.”
“Lead, follow, or get out of the way,” the lawmaker said.
“It’s like mom and dad act like the kids aren’t talking like we’re talking—we have members talking to each other, people with different ideas across the conference. We’ve shared it. We’ve floated it. Everybody knows kind of where everybody kind of is,” the House Republican added, calling for leaders to “put it on paper.”
“People want a roadmap. People want a play call,” another House Republican said.
Speaker Johnson has stressed that he would like to take a bottom-up, inclusive approach to ensure the bill has the support needed to pass as he looks to navigate nearly impossibly tight margins.
President Trump initially said he wanted “one big beautiful bill” but then he didn’t care as long as House Republicans get the job done.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) pointed to his party’sa razor-thin margins with almost no room for error, requiring them to work with all factions to craft a bill.
“There are 11 committees of jurisdiction that are working on the details of budget reconciliation, but of course none of that can start until you pass the budget until you open up the ability to do a reconciliation bill and this year with a more narrow majority,” he told reporters.
“Unlike 2017, where we lost 22 Republicans on the budget, we don’t have that luxury this time,” Scalise said, noting “we can’t have 4 opposing.”
But the rifts could spell trouble for the GOP’s ambitious timeline, with Johnson eyeing passage of a budget blueprint by the end of February and conservative hardliners raising concerns they are going to get jammed.
Senate Budget Chairman Lindsey Graham is expected to brief lawmakers in the upper chamber about the possibly moving first. But Johnson dismissed the notion that the House is off track, insisting Tuesday: “We’re in the midst of this process. We’re right on schedule.”
