Freshman GOP Rep. Matt Rosendale, of Montana, is kicking the beehive in the Republican party by taking shots at his own leader, Rep. Kevin McCarthy, accusing the California Republican of pulling a fast one on him by having another GOP freshman take an immigration bill that he introduced two months ago, retool it, and then put his stamp of approval on it.
“Six years too late, House Republican leadership has finally reckoned with the fact that migration is the central political issue of this century. I’m glad this has happened, but it doesn’t give them the right to take a bill I’ve been working on for months and hand it to another member without even letting me know in advance,” Rosendale said in a statement, according to Politico, in reference to a bill being prepared by Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-Ind.) that has yet to be introduced.
“The fact that they added a fig leaf change in the hours leading up to introduction in order to claim that their legislation is different adds insult to injury,” Rosendale continued.
“If this is how the Conference is going to operate, no member can truly claim ownership of his own initiatives. The disincentive this practice presents for members to put forward controversial and meaningful policies would be catastrophic, and I couldn’t allow it to go unchallenged.”
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Rosendale’s criticism is a remarkable rebuke of the top Republican in the House from a scrappy freshman who also led the charge in attempting unsuccessfully to oust Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) as GOP conference chair after her impeachment vote earlier this year.
It’s unclear if McCarthy will make the rank-and-file rebel pay for crossing him.
