Rep. Troy Nehls (R-TX) lashed out at the dysfunction of his own party caucus in conversation with reporters on Thursday, as his party prepares for a string of critical votes on national security and funding.
Nehls, a far-right lawmaker from the Houston area with a history of controversies, has already decided against running for re-election this year, one of a number of incumbents choosing to head for the exits.
"This is so difficult up here," said Nehls. "We can't agree with much. I was in conference the other day, and you know, we were talking — I'm going to say next week is Hell Week. Next week is going to be Hell Week. We got FISA reauthorization, possibly this reconciliation, the farm bill. It's going to be hard, because you get two or three members that have an issue with one of those bills, it's hard."
"The Lord Jesus couldn't lead this delegation, couldn't lead this conference," he lamented. "It's hard. It is very, very hard. And when you have such controversy because you have such a small majority, you can see why we don't get anything done. We get very little done."
This comes at a moment when the reconciliation bill alone, which was designed to bypass Democrats to fund immigration enforcement for the remainder of Trump's term, faces sharp disagreement among Republican lawmakers over what to include in it.
It also comes as FISA reauthorization faces new challenges, with some Republican members accusing it of violating the privacy of gun owners.