Republican Recriminations Point to a Rocky Path to a House Majority

WASHINGTON — Hostilities betwixt the Republican acold close and its typically muted halfway burst into the unfastened connected Tuesday, highlighting heavy divisions that could bedevil the party’s leaders if they seizure a constrictive bulk successful the House adjacent year.

Initially prompted by the anti-Muslim comments of Representative Lauren Boebert of Colorado, the Republican-on-Republican warfare of words connected Tuesday was remarkably bitter and an denotation of a brewing powerfulness conflict betwixt an ascendant faction that styles itself aft President Donald J. Trump and a quieter 1 that is pushing back.

First, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia called her freshman workfellow Nancy Mace of South Carolina “trash” for condemning Ms. Boebert’s remarks successful a tv interview.

Ms. Mace past utilized a series of emojis — a bat, a heap of excrement and a brainsick clown — to picture Ms. Greene, past kept up a dependable watercourse of societal media attacks, calling her a liar, a grifter and a nut.

Representative Adam Kinzinger, Republican of Illinois, came to Ms. Mace’s defense, calling Ms. Greene “unserious circus barker McSpacelaser” — a notation to a social media station that she erstwhile circulated suggesting that wildfires successful the West had been started by lasers owned by the Rothschilds, a Jewish banking family.

Mr. Kinzinger added that Representative Kevin McCarthy of California, the Republican person and would-be talker who has done thing to subject rank-and-file members of his league for bigoted and convulsive statements, “continues his soundless streak that would marque a monk blush.”

Then Representative Matt Gaetz of Florida, an state of Ms. Greene’s, took to Twitter to amplify an attack by the right-wing provocateur Jack Posobiec denouncing Ms. Mace arsenic a “scam artist” for promoting coronavirus vaccinations connected CNN.

The carnival-like behaviour would magnitude to small much than a sideshow if it did not person existent implications for midterm campaigns and, possibly, a fractured Republican bulk successful 2023. Party leaders again chose to stay mum arsenic their backbenchers brawled, and Democrats took afloat vantage of the spectacle.

“The ambiance is what it has been and what has been created by the Republican Party implicit the past 50 years, wherever they person continued to determination down the way of divisiveness, of acrimony, of threats and accusations, which person demeaned the authorities of America,” Representative Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland, the bulk leader, told reporters.

He again called connected Republican leaders to subject their members, referring to the occurrence that touched disconnected the hostilities: nationalist comments by Ms. Boebert successful which she suggested that Representative Ilhan Omar, Democrat of Minnesota and a Muslim who wears a hijab, could beryllium a termination bomber and called her a subordinate of the “jihad squad.”

The House’s 3 Muslim lawmakers — Ms. Omar and Representatives Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and André Carson of Indiana, each Democrats — suggested that their enactment was looking astatine options to authorisation Ms. Boebert.

“Muslims successful this state are arrogant Americans, hard-working members of our community,” Mr. Carson said. “And we are not anyone’s scapegoat.”

These should beryllium heady days for House Republicans. Off-year elections this period showed existent disenchantment with Democratic power of the House, Senate and White House. Redistricting successful Republican-controlled authorities legislatures has fixed the enactment a moving commencement to triumph the 4 oregon 5 seats it needs to power the House, and polling suggests that a narrow plurality of Americans would alternatively person Republicans successful power of Congress. Given the party’s structural advantages connected redistricting, entree to polls and enthusiasm, that suggests a overmuch broader triumph would beryllium astatine manus if the voting were today.

Michael Steel, a erstwhile spokesperson for Representative John A. Boehner of Ohio, the erstwhile Republican speaker, said the party’s leaders should beryllium moving down the scenes to calm dissent and support members focused connected gathering a level and an statement for control.

“The apical precedence close present should beryllium for everyone successful the canoe to person their rifles pointing outward, not astatine each other,” Mr. Steel said. “And the absorption should beryllium connected addition, not subtraction. That means keeping each the frogs successful the wheelbarrow, adjacent if immoderate of those frogs are beauteous ugly.”

Ms. Omar has said that nary specified confrontation occurred. During a telephone initiated by Ms. Boebert connected Monday — ostensibly to connection contrition — the concern lone devolved further, arsenic Ms. Boebert refused to apologize and alternatively demanded that Ms. Omar publically inquire forgiveness for “anti-American” comments.

Democrats were not the lone ones who condemned Ms. Boebert’s behavior. Ms. Mace, a highly regarded newcomer and the archetypal pistillate to postgraduate from the Citadel subject college, appeared connected CNN to say, “I person clip aft clip condemned my colleagues connected some sides of the aisle for racist tropes and remarks that I find disgusting, and this is nary antithetic than immoderate others.”

Ms. Greene, who similar Ms. Boebert is simply a favourite of Mr. Trump’s, criticized Ms. Mace connected societal media and connected Stephen K. Bannon’s broadcast, “War Room,” and condemned Republican leaders.

“They’re ever each implicit america whenever we accidental oregon bash anything, but it’s the Nancy Maces that should beryllium called out,” Ms. Greene told Mr. Bannon. She added that she, not Ms. Mace, represented the Republican base, a remark seconded by others connected the acold right, including Representative Paul Gosar of Arizona.

Representative Peter Meijer, Republican of Michigan, defended Ms. Mace.

“Nancy is simply a superior legislator who rolls up her sleeves and looks for solutions wherever they tin beryllium found, specified arsenic national cannabis decriminalization, but besides digs successful and fights erstwhile progressives enactment authorities supra policy,” Mr. Meijer said. “I can’t deliberation of a azygous credible happening those attacking her person adjacent tried to accomplish.”

Republican leaders were near pointing fingers astatine their Democratic counterparts, who they said had besides taken nary enactment against members who had crossed lines, whether done anti-Israel comments oregon exhortations to protesters that they said encouraged violence.

Mr. Hoyer did accidental that Mr. McCarthy reached retired to him to accidental Ms. Boebert wanted to apologize to Ms. Omar, an overture that Mr. Hoyer said would not extremity well. He was proved correct.

Mr. McCarthy finds himself successful a delicate position. He does not cognize however ample a bulk his enactment mightiness triumph successful November, particularly since overmuch of the redistricting has focused connected shoring up incumbent advantages than creating much competitory races. A sweeping Republican triumph would let him to constitute disconnected the votes of his party’s fringe.

But if the Republicans assertion a constrictive majority, Mr. McCarthy would request virtually each of the conference’s votes to claim the speakership, a prize helium has sought for astir a decade. The acold close brought down Mr. Boehner successful 2015, and Republican divisions implicit the prospects of Mr. McCarthy’s speakership sunk his past tally for the station weeks later.

A fistful of members, including Ms. Greene, person been chill to the thought of granting him the gavel should his enactment assertion the majority.

Emily Cochrane contributed reporting.