In the News

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Florida — House Republicans wrapped their annual retreat in Florida vowing to unify ahead of the midterm elections as they fight to take back the House, working to hone their messaging strategy and craft a counterpolicy agenda to Democrats over the course of three days.

While fractures in the party were evident during the 2021 issues conference — Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming has come under fire from some within her caucus over her criticisms of former President Donald Trump that led to her ouster from leadership weeks later — members expressed confidence in their ability to work together if they take back the majority in November.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy assigned members to seven task forces in an effort to craft an agenda to tout during election season, which is expected to be released late summer to early fall.

“What we do now, uniting around policy, will create less ... factions inside during the majority,” McCarthy, a California Republican, told the Washington Examiner of their goal for the retreat.

House Minority Whip Steve Scalise said he feels getting the different sectors of the party that have sparred over policy in the past is constructive in prepping for the majority, which they feel confident about taking this cycle.

“You've got people from the Freedom Caucus to the Tuesday group and the [Republican Study Committee] all in the same room talking about the same things and working through some of the complications where sometimes you see fault lines, and then you've worked through them to get unified," said Scalise, a Louisiana Republican. "So it's not like there's unity for the sake of unity. It's actually something that we've been working through for a while now.”

While talk of Trump played a leading role in last year’s issues conference, the former president's name was scarcely invoked by members over the course of the retreat — that despite members acknowledging his base will play a central role in their success in the election.

“Something that was asked here was why hasn't Trump's name been mentioned? And the answer is because we are focused on solving these problems that are in front of us, and we don't have the luxury of thinking about a lot of tangential issues or the presidential election in ‘24 or whatever,” Rep. Mike Johnson of Louisiana, a member of Republican leadership, told the Washington Examiner. “We have to focus right now on what's in front of us.”

While Trump allies continued to take shots at Cheney and Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger for their participation in the Democratic-led Jan. 6 select committee during the event, with McCarthy confirming he is hosting a fundraiser for Cheney’s primary opponent, the minority leader asserted that he believes the party remains a big tent open to supporters with different viewpoints.

Kinzinger, who did not attend the retreat, disagreed with McCarthy's take, arguing the California Republican has let controversies from conservative firebrands slide while taking aim at him and Cheney.

“Well that’s news to me, being that we both put our political careers on the line,” he said. “Of course, Kevin is correct in one area: He definitely has a place for conspiracy, lies, Russian sympathy, and white nationalism — just not truth.”