Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) is increasingly angering many of his House Republican colleagues by antagonizing House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) over the plan to pass President Donald Trump's agenda, The Daily Beast reported.
This comes as the House and Senate continue to wrestle over the best way to move forward with the legislative calendar; the House and Trump largely want to pass a single, large bill containing energy, border security, and tax cuts, as a bargaining chip to reach a grand compromise with the far-right Freedom Caucus, while the Senate would like to split the tax cuts into a second bill to maximize the chance at least some of Trump's agenda will pass.
Donalds, according to one anonymous GOP lawmaker, is irritating the rest of the caucus by attacking Johnson over the slow pace of lawmaking: “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,” said the lawmaker, who added, “He did the same in Miami,” at the House GOP's retreat at Trump's property.
Donalds, well known as a rising pro-Trump star who is considering a run for governor of Florida, told the Beast he is unconcerned with this complaining: “Everybody’s frustrated. 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.”
Moreover, Donalds is not the only one angry about the lack of progress, with another lawmaker telling the Beast, “This isn’t rocket science,” and they're sick of “listening sessions over and over and over again” from House GOP leadership.
As all of this is unfolding, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who is handling much of the budget talks on the Senate side, has unveiled his own proposal for a $300 billion budget resolution on defense and the border.