Republicans make peace after discord

Senate Republicans appeared eager Tuesday to lay down their arms after days of intraparty strife over highway legislation.

Several lawmakers insisted that the conflict between conservatives and party leaders was not evidence of a splintering caucus, and they predicted they will unify for the fiscal battles that loom on the legislative calendar.

{mosads}“We have very intense and strong advocates in our caucus. … I’m not going to say we have absolute unity. I don’t think any caucus ever does,” said Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho). “But I do believe we’ve got strong consensus.”

“We’ve had some differences, but we worked them out,” added Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.). “So far we’ve been able to talk our way though. … Mitch is doing a good job leading us.”

The most public peace offering came from Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), who
issued a joint statement on Tuesday with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) about repealing ObamaCare, following a combative conference meeting late Monday.

McConnell called the emergency meeting after Lee publicly pressed for the Senate to consider ObamaCare repeal as an amendment to the highway bill, and to do so in a way that would require a simple majority.

Lee had vowed to push forward with the technical maneuver, but
he reversed course after McConnell
confronted him with an email showing Lee’s staff had been talking with
outside conservative groups about
that approach.

In statements issued Tuesday, McConnell and Lee underlined their agreement about repealing ObamaCare through budget reconciliation.

“The Majority Leader and I are committed to using reconciliation to repeal ObamaCare in the 114th Congress,” Lee wrote in his statement.

The blowup between Lee and McConnell came as tensions were already running high. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) on Friday took to the Senate floor to accuse McConnell of lying about a deal to revive the Export-Import Bank.

McConnell and several GOP senators fired back at Cruz, who is running for president, during a rare Sunday session of the Senate; the GOP leader fired a parting shot on Tuesday.

“I don’t know what one considers the definition of a deal, but we’ve been discussing quite openly for months that I would make it possible for supporters of the Ex-Im Bank” to get a vote to revive its expired charter, McConnell said.

Senate Republicans are mindful of the need to create a united front heading into the final months of the year, when they are likely to face off against Democrats and the White House in high-stakes battles over government funding and the debt ceiling.

“There’s no question that the agenda is lengthy, substantive and challenging,” said Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.). “Republicans understand that
we’ve got to find a path in which we’ve got unity.”

“If you’re unified you can do anything. If you’re not, you can’t do anything,” Isakson said.

Passage of a six-year highway bill in the Senate — expected later this week — could help Republicans end the
summer session on a high note,
setting the stage for negotiations with the House this fall.

Beyond the highway bill, lawmakers have a jampacked schedule
awaiting them after their traditional August break.

Lawmakers will need to agree on a funding bill by Oct. 1 to avoid a government shutdown; they will need to come up with a long-term highway bill or another short-term patch before that funding runs dry at the end of October; and they will need to tackle the debt ceiling before the nation defaults, likely sometime in November or December.

Those issues will present the biggest challenge yet for the Republican-led Congress.

Senate Republicans have struggled to get on the same page with their House counterparts on several measures this year, most recently the highway legislation. And with four GOP senators running for president, campaign rhetoric will only ramp up as lawmakers tackle tough issues.

“There’s no doubt that presidential ambitions have some impact around here,” said Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who ran for the White House in 2000 and 2008. “We’re in uncharted waters [with] the number that’s running.

“There’s an old saying that if you’re a United States senator, unless you are under indictment or detoxification, you automatically consider yourself a candidate for president of the United States,” he added. “Now we’re seeing that turned into reality.” 

Jordain Carney and Bernie Becker contributed to this report.