House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy admits that the Freedom Caucus has won and that the House will not hold any votes on gun violence this week, which means they're piled on to the mess of things that Congress needs to deal with in a short working session in September, because a seven-week break begins at the end of this week. Why won't there be votes? The Freedom Caucus won't let them happen, but don't expect leadership to acknowledge that.
"I think it's a good idea not to bring up that bill," Freedom Caucus Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio said. "We'll see what happens after that."
House Speaker Paul D. Ryan agreed that the timing is wrong for the measure.
“That just inflames the conversation by going after law-abiding citizens constitutional rights,” the Wisconsin Republican said in an interview Monday evening. “What I think can be helpful is having a dialogue, which we are actually initiating here in the Congress just this week about what are the solutions that we see out there in communities between communities and the police.”
The House may still revisit the gun legislation after its seven-week summer recess, which begins at the end of this week. "We're working on it," McCarthy said.
Pffft. They're not working on it. They're giving into the maniacs. As usual. That might give them an advantage when it comes time to fund the government in September, the one thing that they have to do and the one thing that the maniacs see as their best opportunity for mischief.
While the entire nation is reeling from weeks of unspeakable violence, the least productive congress in history is reaching for an even lower bar this year. That's the only thing Republicans are going to achieve in 2016.