Rep. Nehls Claims Even Lord Jesus Can’t Lead House GOP

The “Lord Jesus himself” can’t govern the House Republican conference, said Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas.

“I don’t think the Lord Jesus himself could manage this group,” Nehls said after the House canceled votes on two party-line funding bills in a span of 48 hours before adjourning for a long weekend.

“We’re still dealing with the same divisions we always have had,” said another House Republican. “We’re ungovernable.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson pulled voting on two yearlong spending bills amid opposition from both ends of the conference.

Rep. Max Miller, R-Ohio, called his party “embarrassing” and “incredibly upsetting” after leadership pulled final passage of the House Financial Services and General Government bill on Thursday.

“If the American people are looking at the amendments that we’re voting on, it’s a huge disappointment,” he said.

Republicans elected Johnson as speaker in late October, the end to a tumultuous three weeks that highlighted divisions with the party.

Federal agencies are making plans for a shutdown that would shutter government services and halt paychecks for millions of federal workers and military troops.

It’s a disruption that Johnson has said he wants to avoid. Yet House lawmakers left Washington for the weekend without a plan in hand after several setbacks. Johnson is still sounding out support among Republicans about what to do and is expected to unveil funding legislation over the weekend, according to Republicans granted anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.

The shrinking calendar gives Johnson, a Louisiana Republican who has vaulted from the lower ranks of Republican leadership to the speaker’s office, a narrow window to corral an unpredictable GOP conference.

“We’re running up against the clock on Nov. 17, and we’re obviously aware of that,” Johnson said this week, referring to the date that government funding expires. “But we are going to get the job done.”