Originally Authored at TheFederalist.com
Republican politicos regularly demonstrate why they don’t deserve to be reelected — and Congress’s recent decision to ship more U.S. taxpayer dollars overseas while American priorities fall through the cracks is just another example.
On Saturday, the GOP-controlled House passed measures totaling $95 billion in foreign spending to (mostly) Ukraine, Israel (and Hamas-controlled Gaza), and Taiwan. Spearheaded by Speaker Mike Johnson, none of the approved packages included provisions that stop President Joe Biden’s manufactured border invasion.
Johnson wasted no time in fast-tracking the measures to the House floor for consideration, ignoring objections from the House Freedom Caucus and breaking his previous promises to secure the U.S.-Mexico border before considering foreign spending bills. Proclaiming himself to be a “wartime speaker,” the Louisiana Republican repeated the moronic talking point that failure to move these packages forward (at Democrats’ behest) would prompt Vladimir Putin to “march through Europe.”
Like many spending packages that have passed under Johnson’s speakership, the Ukraine supplemental received more support from Democrats than Republicans. Johnson has since received fawning coverage from legacy media such as CNN, which compared the speaker to World War II-era British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.
GOP Primaries Are Key
Unfortunately, Saturday’s vote is nothing new for conservatives. Whether it’s the border, federal spending, or the Second Amendment, the GOP’s laundry list of betrayal is long enough to wrap around the waist of Richard — I mean, Rachel — Levine.
But it doesn’t have to be this way.
While the 2024 GOP presidential primary is all but finished, there are dozens of states throughout the country that have yet to hold primaries for federal and state offices. The most immediate of these is Pennsylvania, where Democrat and Republican voters will head to the polls Tuesday to pick their nominees for the U.S. Congress, attorney general, and various other races.
The primary system is a great tool that allows party voters to oust politicians they feel aren’t representing their interests. If a congressman representing a border district isn’t prioritizing policies to stop the influx of illegal aliens crossing through that district, for example, primary voters unhappy with his job performance can replace him with someone they are excited to vote for during the general election.
One might imagine that Americans’ overwhelming disapproval of Congress would produce a high turnover rate among representatives and senators running for reelection. But that is not the case.
In the 2022 midterms, for example, every U.S. senator and governor running for reelection won their respective primaries — even after many of them spent years inflicting tyrannical and destructive Covid policies on their constituents. As I previously wrote in these pages, this trend isn’t exclusive to those elections, either.
So far, the results from the completed 2024 statewide primaries indicate GOP primary voters are continuing this pattern. Of the states that have already held their respective congressional primaries, Alabama Rep. Jerry Carl is the only GOP member of Congress to lose re-nomination thus far. He was defeated by Republican Rep. Barry Moore during Alabama’s March 5 primary after redistricting forced the two incumbents to run in the same district.
Meanwhile, Texas GOP Rep. Tony Gonzales is at risk of losing his re-nomination bid after he failed to acquire more than 50 percent of the vote during the Lone Star State’s March 5 primary. Gonzalez — who supported the aforementioned Ukraine spending bill — will face challenger Brandon Herrera in a May 28 runoff election.
Conservatives Must Rediscover Self-Governance
Conservatives are more than welcome to support whichever candidate they choose. That’s their prerogative as voters and Americans. But unless they’re willing to rediscover what it means to be a self-governing people, the GOP will continue to be the fake opposition party it’s been for years.
The reason Republicans like Mike Johnson are able to regularly screw over their constituents is because they don’t fear backlash from their voters. They think most GOP electors won’t show up to vote in primaries and those who do will overwhelmingly support the incumbent — and the data shows they’re right.
[RELATED: By Backing Establishment Candidates, Trump Hurts His Voters And The ‘America First’ Agenda]
Contrary to popular belief, being a citizen means much more than showing up to vote every two to four election cycles. It’s about showing up to your local school board and city council meetings; engaging with your local, state, and federal representatives; knowing what type of legislation is moving through each level of government; and yes, getting active in primary elections.
Until the GOP establishment learns to fear repercussions from its voters, the bipartisan destruction of America will continue unabated.
Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He previously served as a state content writer for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood