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ROOKE: GOP Leadership Infected With Severe Electoral Dysfunction

By Mary Rooke, Commentary and Analysis Writer

Republican leaders are demanding that everyone else, but them, do the job they were elected to handle.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford, both senior figures within the GOP, responded to legitimate pressure over stalled priorities by playing political theater. At the heart of this is a battle between GOP leadership and the American people who sent them to Washington, D.C., to fulfill their voter-mandated agenda.

On Thursday, Daily Caller’s White House correspondent Reagan Reese asked White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt if President Donald Trump’s patience was wearing thin with Thune over the lack of legislative action on the SAVE Act.

Leavitt responded, saying that not only is Trump’s patience running out, but also that “He wants to see as much of the SAVE America Act passed as possible by the August recess.”

“The American people elected Republicans overwhelmingly to lead not just this White House but also the House and the Senate. The House did its job. The Senate needs to do its job too,” she added.

Thune responded like a petulant child, chastising Trump for calling out the Senate’s inaction and even suggesting that Leavitt or “somebody else,” probably referring to Trump, should “get on the phone and get the votes.”

Maybe Thune has forgotten or just doesn’t care to be in charge anymore. Still, it’s the Senate Majority Leader’s job to count votes, identify soft supporters, apply pressure, cut deals, schedule floor time, and move legislation. Lyndon B. Johnson understood this. Harry Reid understood this. Even Mitch McConnell, for all his flaws, understood the mechanics of floor management and caucus discipline.

Thune has repeatedly said he cannot get 50 votes for the SAVE Act. If that is true, the responsibility still rests with him to change the math. But instead of admitting that he doesn’t have enough political will or power to get this extremely popular legislation over the line, he demands the White House do his job for him. (Sign up for Mary Rooke’s weekly newsletter here!)

But this follows a familiar pattern in which the GOP under unified government has struggled to convert electoral success into legislative output. When Americans overwhelmingly gave Republicans control of Congress in 2024, the expectation would be that they would codify Trump’s campaign promises. Things like mass deportations and border security, fixing the economy, rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse from the federal government were supposed to be priorities. Instead, these issues have moved slowly through Congress or not at all.

When pressure mounts, the Republican default is to blame Democratic obstruction and even (hilariously) conservative media rather than admit they don’t care about the voter mandate. The public is left watching a majority that appears more comfortable embracing legislative obstacles like a warm safety blanket than removing them and serving the people.

You see this so clearly in Lankford’s attack on conservative media when Fox Business host Larry Kudlow confronted Lankford over Republican inaction on air.

Kudlow critiqued GOP leadership for “bungling everything,” producing no visible progress, lacking messaging, and having lost its “swag, swagger, rizz.”

“You, the leadership in both houses, are bungling everything, Sir. I say that with all due respect, and we are personal friends. But you’re bungling everything. Nothing is getting done. Your messaging is nonexistent. You’ve lost your swag, your swagger, your rizz, or whatever the young people say. No one knows what the heck you’re doing, Sir,” Kudlow said to Lankford.

“This is part of the challenge we’ve got with all of our media friends out there that continue to be able to beat up on Republicans and say, ‘Republicans are all the problem.’ But apparently, the socialist Democrats in New York City, they seem to be perfect because most conservative media right now is beating up on Republicans and just ignoring the socialists who are running rampant all over the country,” Lankford responded.

The assertion that conservative media is ignoring socialist Democrats in New York City and elsewhere is simply false. Coverage of DSA-aligned candidates and their platforms has been extensive, sustained, and often harshly critical.

The sheer audacity of Lankford blaming the utter failure of the GOP over the last two years on the media is incredible. Conservative media has no responsibility to play nice with elected Republicans. Left-wing media may be willing to trash their credibility in favor of protecting their political allies at all costs, but that is largely not true for conservatives who feel obligated to advocate for accountability.

When a party controls the Legislative and Executive branches and still struggles to legislate based on voters’ desires, scrutiny from its own media ecosystem is vitally necessary. Babying ineffective leadership and underperformance does not produce better results. If Lankford wants soft coverage, he should admit he’s a Democrat and officially file to switch sides. (RELATED: Where Democrats Think They Can Flip The Senate: New Ad Money Shows The Map)

It’s become increasingly obvious that Thune, Lankford, and the broader GOP are seeking a boogeyman to deflect from their prolific impotence. Maybe what they really desire is to sit in a chair in the corner and watch others perform their core functions as a form of institutional self-diminishment.

Regardless of what they are into, voters elected them to codify their mandate. Until Thune, Lankford, and their colleagues treat delivering on this as a non-delegable responsibility, the gap between Republican power and Republican performance will remain the defining story of this Congress.

Follow Mary Rooke on X: @MaryRooke

From dailycaller.com