House Republicans set a four-decade record — and it’s not a good one, review finds

House Republicans set a new record in 2023 — and it’s not one to brag about, according to a new report.

Last year, GOP representatives had a 63.7% success rate for party unity votes — when majorities of both Republicans and Democrats vote in opposite ways — marking the lowest such figure in four decades, according to an analysis by Roll Call.

The last time so many party unity votes failed in the House was in 1982, when Democrats controlled the chamber and then-President Ronald Reagan was in the White House.

One of the reasons for last year’s record-low success rate comes down to pure mathematics, Richard Bensel, a professor of government at Cornell University, told McClatchy News.

In 2023, the GOP only had a razor-thin majority in the House, which slipped even further after the expulsion of New York Rep. George Santos in December and former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s retirement.

“When you can only lose three or four members and still win, that’s a problem,” Bensel said.

But, perhaps more seriously, the GOP caucus is also tremendously divided over how to properly govern, a factor that led numerous votes to fail, he said.

“There is a mainstream Republican party that’s more interested in pragmatic policy change than making extreme policy statements,” Bensel said. They have frequently clashed with “the more MAGA far-right representatives who are far more interested in making public statements and actually just media spectacles.”

These divisions played out in a number of party unity votes last year, including 54 over measures to shrink salaries for government officials, according to the report.

“Those votes tended to follow a pattern, with all Democrats present voting ‘no’ and between 45 and 75 Republicans crossing over to join the opposition,” per the report.

For example, an amendment to reduce the White House press secretary’s salary to $1, sponsored by New York Rep. Claudia Tenney, a vocal supporter of Trump, failed in November after 54 Republicans sided with Democrats in opposing it.

Other failed party unity votes were over appropriations measures for federal agencies.

An amendment that would have barred the FBI from acquiring funding for a new headquarters, sponsored by Trump ally Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, floundered after 70 GOP lawmakers joined Democrats in opposition, according to NBC News.

“I don’t think the Lord Jesus himself could manage this group,” Rep. Troy Nehls, a Texas Republican, told the outlet following the unsuccessful vote.

Additional party unity votes that caused a sizable rift among Republicans were the December vote to expel embattled Rep. George Santos and a September vote over security assistance for Ukraine, per the report.

Democrats, meanwhile, won 91.4% of party unity votes when they were in the majority in 2022, signifying significantly less division in their caucus — a trend which has carried into 2024, Bensel said.

Both Democrats and Republicans started with the same 222-213 majority in 2022 and 2023, respectively.

“The Democratic party right now…is far more united than the Republicans,” Bensel said, in part because of their unified opposition to former President Donald Trump, the front runner for the 2024 GOP nomination.

“Part of this party unity on the Democratic side, I think, is just anxiety about the coming election,” Bensel said.

This story was originally published February 8, 2024 at 12:25 PM with the headline "House Republicans set a four-decade record — and it’s not a good one, review finds."