What Does the Republican Party Even Stand for?

On Friday, the GOP-controlled House of Representatives did what many thought was unthinkable. In what can only be described as a stunning act of bravery, these bold Republicans — wait for it — passed a resolution that condemns socialism.

Yes, you read that correctly. While Americans continue to grapple with high costs of living and an increasingly broken health care system — both products of reckless government intervention — your Republican House majority decided to expend what little “low t” energy it has on a useless resolution that basically says, “SOCIALISM IS BAD!”

The entire charade was like watching Olivia Nuzzi try to dish out marital advice. Consider that many of the same Republicans who enthusiastically voted to condemn socialism have had no problem bankrolling Obamacare, fraud-ridden welfare programs like SNAP, and every wallet-sucking entitlement program under the sun — all with zero intention of reforming or gutting any of them.

It’s as ironic as it is comical.

But Friday’s vote was hardly the first do-nothing dog-and-pony show Republicans have put on for their constituents. For years, GOP politicos have graced the airwaves of Fox News and conservative media, telling voters what they want to hear about the issues of the day while simultaneously doing absolutely nothing of substance to address them.

During the 2024 election cycle, Republicans promised a generational “America First” reformation that would reshape political governance as we know it. And now, 10 months into GOP trifecta control of the federal government, this “generational change” has amounted to little more than a tax bill, which many Republicans seem to believe is enough to keep them in power next year.

Meanwhile, many of President Trump’s transformative executive orders have not been enshrined into law; the Education Department has not been abolished; there’s still no plan to repeal and replace Obamacare; no urgency to codify any meaningful DOGE cuts; or to shut down lower courts’ judicial tyranny and impeach activist judges. Pick your issue of the day, and Republicans are nowhere to be found.

Whenever confronted with this lack of effort, GOP leadership will undoubtedly point to Republicans’ small House and Senate margins, arguing the party simply doesn’t have enough seats required to implement their supposed transformative agenda. You’ll notice, however, that fact didn’t stop Democrats from ramming through their radical agenda when Joe Biden was president and their party possessed small majorities in Congress.

The real reason Republicans “can’t” (and won’t) pass any significant “America First”-style policies boils down to a much more serious problem — one which the GOP will never admit to. That is, unlike Democrats, Republicans have no unified vision of what they view as success for the country.

For all of their alleged opposition to Democrats, too many Republicans agree with Democrats on several substantive issues and support more government involvement in areas where it has no business being. For all intents and purposes, the current GOP is a party comprised of various ideological factions, disillusioned as to what “America First” actually means.

The ongoing debate over whether to abolish the Senate filibuster encapsulates this problem perfectly.

From a purely numbers standpoint, Republicans clearly possess the majority required to nuke it. The problem is there’s no guarantee that, even if they did somehow manage to get rid of the filibuster, the policies supported by Trump and conservative voters would be able to pass both chambers, given the major ideological fragmentation within the party.

This isn’t to say that elected Republicans shouldn’t have any disagreement on any issues whatsoever. Healthy debate among representatives can be a positive thing and produce better results. But on the big picture policies of the day, having a central vision and common end goal is paramount.

Unfortunately for conservatives, this is a problem that’s not going to be fixed overnight. It took years of GOP voter complacency to get us to this point, and it’s going to take years of consistent citizen activism (and better endorsements and support from leaders like Trump) to fix it.

Electing your preferred candidate isn’t the end of self-governance; it’s merely the beginning. Being a citizen means being fully engaged with your elected officials and government, whether it be at the local, state, or federal level.

That’s the responsibility that comes with being an American. And until conservatives start acting like citizens and not just voters, they should expect more of the same, wherein Democrats destroy the country while their socialist-condemning Republicans do nothing but watch.

https://thefederalist.com/2025/11/24/what-does-the-republican-party-even-stand-for