Republican Infighting Is Getting Uglier

Infighting in the Republican Party has increased in recent months due to divisions over foreign aid and Mike Johnson's speakership.

On Saturday, after months of wrangling, lawmakers passed the $95 billion package that will provide military aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.

In total, 210 Democrats and 101 Republicans voted in favor of the Ukraine aid bill, while 112 Republicans voted against it. Some hard-right Republicans argued that Congress should instead focus on increased security at the U.S.-Mexico border.

The vote came as a large number of Republicans, including outspoken Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, have been vocal in their opposition to sending further aid to Ukraine. Last month, Greene introduced a motion to vacate GOP Speaker Mike Johnson, criticizing a $1.2 trillion spending bill to fund government agencies.

Passing the bill on Saturday did nothing to quell dissent.

On Sunday, Texas Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales described some of his colleagues who voted against the series of foreign aid bills as "scumbags."

"I serve with some real scumbags," he said on CNN's State of the Union.

Another clash emerged over the motion to oust Johnson as Speaker. Wisconsin Rep. Derrick Van Orden told Axios he called Gaetz "tubby" on the House floor on Thursday after Gaetz called him "squish"—a term used to refer to moderates who sometimes vote with Democrats.

Van Orden told CNN reporter Manu Raju: "Matt Gaetz is a bully. Chip Roy is a bully. Bob Good's a bully. And the only way to stop a bully is to push back hard."

Gaetz also told Raju that Van Orden was not "a particularly intelligent individual."

Todd Landman, a professor of political science at the School of Politics and International Relations at the University of Nottingham in the U.K., told Newsweek that "division" in the party is "getting worse not better" because of the aid bill.

He said: "The roots of discord in the GOP for me lie in the period during which John Boehner was Speaker, who resigned in 2015. Kevin McCarthy at that time was a possible candidate but the Freedom Caucus opposed his candidature, where Paul Ryan became Speaker. After Nancy Pelosi's term, Kevin McCarthy ran a fraught effort to ascend to the speakership, only to be vacated by a push from the Freedom Caucus led by Matt Gaetz. Mike Johnson finally emerged after another long and arduous process of selection, but is now the focus of another ouster, primarily led by Marjorie Taylor Greene from Georgia.

"The passage of the aid to Ukraine, Tawain, and Israel has not helped Johnson, nor has his recent visit to Mr. Trump in Mar a Lago, where his success in getting the aid bill passed is perceived by the Freedom Caucus as unacceptable, while the absence of tougher measures for the US border has increased the tension and vitriol. McCarthy launched a veiled attack against Gaetz at a recent talk at Georgetown University, which a further sign further discord in the party. The fallout from the aid vote has sowed more division in the party, which appears to be getting worse not better."

Meanwhile, Thomas Whalen, an associate professor who teaches U.S. politics at Boston University, told Newsweek Johnson was "presiding over the rubble" of the GOP.

"What Republican Party? As one of its founders once famously said, a house divided against itself cannot stand. Mike Johnson is just presiding over the rubble. And Democrats are smiling ear to ear looking toward November."

Newsweek has reached out to the Republican National Committee by email to comment on this story.