WEST SULPHUR SPRINGS, West Virginia — As House Republicans left the annual GOP retreat Friday, they lamented dismal attendance that sullied hopes of pushing out a strong and unifying message. Coupled with reminders of party infighting and a chaotic term, the conference departed West Virginia on uneven footing as they grappled with major issues ahead.
The House has faced a chaotic year under Republican control with an ousted speaker, party infighting, and a growing exodus of GOP members set for the end of 2024. While some Republican lawmakers are still confident in their chances to grow their ever-narrowing majority, others are worried the GOP retreat in West Virginia, a chance for Republicans to put aside differences and come together, further highlighted that members have a long way to go to heal the conference.
During the two-day trip, some Republicans were stunned when House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) had to warn his colleagues about campaigning against each other, a trend that Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-MI) called “dumb” as the GOP strives to hold on to its slim majority.
Johnson’s comments came after Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) elected to skip the retreat and campaign in Texas for Brandon Herrera, who is challenging Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-TX) in a runoff election for the primary. It was not the first time Gaetz has campaigned against a fellow House member.
“I’m appealing and asking my colleagues to please get over themselves,” Huizenga told the Washington Examiner after the retreat. “And let’s have the focus be on winning a majority so that we can actually affect the country. I do think that Donald Trump’s going to be the next president. Would that not be a whole hell of a lot better for him and the country if we had a Republican majority.”
When asked why the congressman elected to skip the retreat and campaign instead, a spokesperson for Gaetz said, “House Republicans have been in a state of constant retreat. Congressman Gaetz is on the advance.”
Huizenga lamented the low attendance at the retreat; roughly 100 GOP lawmakers attended the yearly issues retreat this week, a source familiar told the Washington Examiner. That is less than half the entire House GOP conference, which has 219 members.
Leaders had tried to prevent low attendance by imploring members to go, but they were met with disappointment. Despite low numbers, Johnson and House Republican leadership sought to portray their infighting and conflicts as worthwhile struggles.
“Democracy is messy,” Johnson said. “Sometimes it’s very messy. This is part of that process. But I think what you’ve seen is that even though we live in a time of divided government, and even though Republicans have quite literally almost the smallest majority in U.S. history, in an effort that some deem to be impossible, we are actually moving the ball forward and getting the job done. We are governing.
“While you might describe it as chaotic, the Republican-led majority has gotten a lot of really important substantive work done,” Johnson added.
However, despite Johnson’s attempt to bring the conference together under a unifying banner, over half the House GOP declined to attend, with many citing family obligations, work in their districts, or a lack of faith that participating in the retreat would make any difference in the long run.
Several of the no-shows were among the 21 Republicans who are departing the House at the end of this Congress either for retirement or to seek another office. A GOP aide whose member is retiring told the Washington Examiner that they didn’t really see a point in going, especially if the member isn’t sticking around.
As they prepare for their member’s retirement, the aide said the overall mood about the future of the Republican conference is low.
“They see no point in going and that it’s a waste of time because people think that’s nothing going to happen and there’s no plan,” the aide said.
Other members and their aides were less optimistic that their attendance would have made a difference, particularly as the party faces several uphill battles. Next week, a government shutdown once again looms ahead as appropriations bills still sit unfinished. Republicans are also pushing forward with an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden that has yet to yield charges of high crimes and misdemeanors.
The House passed the first half of its 12 appropriations bills on March 6, with the remaining six appropriations bills set to expire on March 22. The goal is to push the last six through as one piece of legislation, but one of the bills likely to cause the most division and hold up the process is the one for the Department of Homeland Security, a flashpoint with House Republicans as they continue to blast the Biden administration for a perceived lack of action at the southern border.
A senior GOP aide told the Washington Examiner that the low attendance matches the low morale within the House Republican Party.
“The only retreat that matters is the one leadership has done over the last few months to the old swamp tactics that we’ve seen for decades,” the aide said. “Backroom process, massive uniparty spending bills, no changes to Washington business as usual.”
Another senior Republican aide went further to liken the retreat to a new Marvel movie.
“This GOP retreat was the equivalent of what Madame Web was to the Marvel Cinematic Universe: No one wanted it, it was a colossal waste of time and resources, and everyone who attended felt dumber when they left,” they said.
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Huizenga said time will tell if the retreat did anything to heal the House GOP, and he worried those who needed to be there the most didn’t show up. Unlike like past retreats that were more policy focused, the Michigan Republican said this was about how the party can become one unit.
“It probably would have just been healthy to have people around, not in their various camps but actually trying to figure out how we’re going to make this ‘family’ functional,” Huizenga added, putting the family part in quotes.
Marisa Schultz contributed to this report.
