Politico: 'We Just Finally Saw the Dam Break': How House Republicans Embraced the Chaos
I caught up with Rep. Tom Cole, a veteran Republican from Oklahoma, to get his insights into the internal dynamics at play here. Cole knows what he’s talking about, having chaired the Appropriations Committee and the Rules Committee — both in the past month.
In press shorthand, Cole is usually described as an institutionalist, and since the tea party era, he’s also been known for butting heads with his more rambunctious, often newer colleagues on the far right.
Today’s antagonism toward House leadership stems from “a lack of respect for the institution and the wisdom of the institution,” he said. Speaking of the bomb-throwers, he added, “You know, you’ve got to grow up.”
Cole is also a member of the Chickasaw Nation, a trained historian and as a cigar aficionado, literally a devotee of Washington’s smoke-filled back rooms.
On this week’s episode of Playbook Deep Dive, we got deep into the weeds of why the Rules Committee has been such a trouble spot for recent GOP speakers and whether Cole thinks Johnson can hang on as members threaten to oust him. I also had Cole answer some prying questions from some of his favorite historians on the subject of Donald Trump.
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/04/20/grow-up-a-veteran-republican-is-tired-of-his-partys-insurgents-00153454
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