There are only three words to describe the Republican Party right now: irresponsible, delusional and divided.

Last week’s Department of Homeland Security funding debacle kept America on its toes, waiting to see if House Republicans could put aside their desire to strike down recent immigration reforms in order to keep a partial government shutdown from occurring. Sure, they managed to pass a one-week funding bill in the 11th hour on Friday, and yes, they passed a “clean” bill this past Tuesday, but this does not make up for the heinous behavior the Republican Party has displayed this week.

The GOP has now shown it’s true colors as a party so concerned with taking down President Barack Obama’s administration that it could not manage to pass a simple funding bill for what is perhaps the most essential agency of our federal government without putting the nation’s security at risk.

The fact that House Republicans finally passed this funding bill without language to remove Obama’s immigration actions doesn’t excuse their original actions. Their unnecessary, prolonged escapade shows that they have absolutely no plan to govern responsibly.

Using the word delusional to describe the current mindset of congressional Republicans is a thought borrowed from one of their own — Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) called the section of Republicans that would allow DHS to shut down “self-righteous and delusional.” He commented further on Twitter, saying “There are terrorist attacks all over the world and we’re talking about closing down Homeland Security. This is like living in a world of crazy people.”

A world of crazy people it is. The only thing more divided than the two parties in Congress is the Republican Party itself. Fifty-two Republicans voted against Speaker of the House John Boehner’s proposed 3-week funding bill. Boehner is finding more allies amongst the Democrats than within his own party — it was only with the promise to Minority leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) of a vote on a “clean” funding bill later this week that a one-week stopgap funding bill got passed just two hours before the shutdown would have begun. It was with this same reach across the aisle that Boehner was able to pass the full spending bill on Tuesday.

If the GOP wants to shift its perception away from the misguided and reckless face it showed over this past week, it needs to concede that tactics like holding the nation’s security hostage are not the way to change national policies. The Sunday talk shows this week were filled with Republican leaders all saying the same thing — Boehner, along with Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) all referred to disagreements about “tactics” when it came to passing — well, not passing — a spending bill.

Of course, it’s not the entire party that’s keeping DHS funding at bay. As Rep. King and the Republican leadership would agree, there is a group of hardline conservatives — about 50 or so — who are holding the party back. Boehner found a solution to this once, and it’s that same solution that will get him through the next vote: be bipartisan and work with the Democrats.
It’s clear that tactics are dividing the GOP — only reasonability can bring the rest of the House together.

After Tuesday’s vote, Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Pa.) said that it’s time for his party to move forward and “stop playing these silly games,” further calling on the GOP to “prove to the American people that we’re serious about protecting this homeland and that we have the capacity to govern.”

If this past week taught us anything, it’s that the American people shouldn’t hold their breath.

Zach Goldberg is a senior economics, policy studies and energy and its impacts major. His column appears weekly. He can be reached at zrgoldbe@syr.edu and followed on Twitter @zgolds.

Published on March 5, 2015 at 12:20 am