Jittery GOP House members balk at returning to work: 'Happy to be sent home early!'
House Republicans have returned to Capitol Hill from their summer break on Monday, and they already want to go home.
According to Politico, GOP lawmakers are gripped by extreme anxiety over November's midterms, openly admitting they need to be back home in their districts doing everything they can to hold onto their seats.
Speaker Mike Johnson's (R-LA) sole must-do item this week is "sending a shutdown-averting spending bill to President Trump's desk." Beyond that, the legislative calendar is largely empty until later in the year.
"Meanwhile, the thin GOP majority has had trouble opening the House floor for debate on any number of legislative priorities, and many Republicans lawmakers are simply eager to get back home ahead of the November midterms rather than endure more headaches in Washington," Politico is reporting. "Together that has fueled open speculation among members and aides that House leaders will call it quits until mid-November much sooner than the currently scheduled Oct. 1 exit date."
"So many people are having to run back and forth to campaign," Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-VA) told reporters. "I think we can get some other things done [beyond the spending stopgap], but the big bills will probably have to wait until after the election."
One anonymous House Republican was candid when speaking with Politico: "I think we have very little to do." Another, facing a competitive reelection race, texted: "I'd be happy to be sent home early!"
The "agitation" to bail early could intensify once Johnson advances the Senate-passed funding bill this week, which would push a possible shutdown from Sept. 30 to Dec. 11 and extend surface transportation authority.
This comes after the GOP-majority chamber has "already punted other major deadlines," and now members are "eyeing the post-election 'lame duck' session for substantive legislating."
One GOP lawmaker in a relatively safe district is not thrilled about what is to come.
"We need to campaign, but it's not a great look for us to not come into town and work," they told Politico. "People already think we are on vacation when we're home. What kind of damage does it do if we leave D.C. again?"