For those who walk the deep weeds of internecine politics, we notice there is an influential component of the Sea Island group still at work within the GOP.

The same Republican “conservatives” who voted to suspend the debt ceiling issue for Joe Biden (Chip Roy, Thomas Massie, Nancy Mace et al), refused to stop the issue of the debt ceiling from surfacing during the Donald Trump administration.

At a certain point we must accept there are elements within the republican apparatus who intend to disrupt President Trump even though they present a false face.

The short-term spending bill has punted the issues of government funding into March 2025. The package passed 366-34, with the support of 196 Democrats and 170 Republicans.

The good news is that most of the hidden non-spending aspects were removed in the much shorter CR extension. The provisions which shielded the administrative state, approximately 1,000 pages of self-interested regulation, were removed. However, the debt ceiling conflict will rise again and could potentially present a problem because they will be attached to future legislative negotiations on Trump policy.

The House “Freedom Caucus” is essentially the voice and mechanism for the Sea Island group to disrupt MAGA plans and President Trump’s economic priorities. The Debt Ceiling is their legislative weapon, a false front technical issue to hide the Freedom Caucus intent. They justify standing against Trump by saying “fiscal conservatism”; but in reality, their history shows their vitriol only extends outwardly when Trump is in office.

The Sea Island multinational and banking group (traditional GOP control elements) are the financial backers of these anti-Trump schemes. The origin of their corporate opposition comes from the way they make money, which is not in alignment with the policy of President Trump.

The same group of influential hedge fund managers, billionaires, multinational corporations, banking groups and political operatives on K-Street who do their bidding (Chamber of Commerce, Club for Growth etc.) are/were behind the effort to lift Ron DeSantis. It is easier to reference them simply by saying The Sea Island Group. This is why we see the same names, the Ron DeSantis supporting politicians, voting against the proposals of President Trump.

They do not support the operational intentions of Donald Trump (economic nationalism), and they use “conservative principles” as the justification for their opposition. Quite simply, it is a ruse. I am sick of watching these Deceptive Conservatives create arguments amid the republican base of MAGA support who do not follow the convoluted mechanics of how they use legislation and votes (cloture) to carry out the objectives of the billionaire donor class. CTH was founded in part on this issue. We have outlined these masks for a long time.

(Via NBC) – WASHINGTON — The Republican-controlled House on Friday evening passed a short-term bill to avert a government shutdown … The vote was 366-34, with all opposition coming from Republicans and one member voting present. It capped a tumultuous week in the House that foreshadowed how the new Congress in January might deal with a mercurial Donald Trump back in the White House. A two-thirds vote was needed because the bill came to the floor under a fast-track process.

The legislation now heads to the Senate which must pass it before 12:01 a.m. to avert a shutdown.

The package funds the government at current levels through March 14, and includes $100 billion in disaster aid and a one-year farm bill — while stripping out a debt limit extension demanded by President-elect Trump earlier in the week. (read more)

These funding fights always break down to accepting a crap sandwich amid a buffet of horrible ingredients.  They always suck; however, President Trump’s pragmatic optimal solution approach has always been to plough through it with as little of the crap ingredients as possible, while rapidly positioning to have the benefit of his economic policy as fast as possible.

Lastly, understand this with direct seriousness. The House Freedom Caucus (HFC) wants the Debt Ceiling fight. It is a tool they can use so they can impede the economic agenda of President Donald Trump. This same HFC will -eventually- work to STOP the Musk and Ramaswamy DOGE effort to remove the tentacles of big government.

The HFC are anti-Trump, and they will stand aghast shouting “muh principles” when you point it out; they are, unfortunately, assholes.