GOP lawmakers gather amid division

Comedian Jay Leno is slated to warm up the group on Wednesday night. But even before boarding buses to Pennsylvania, some Republicans clearly weren’t ready to sing kumbaya.

“I think the leadership is unified – unified in doing very little,” conservative Rep. Tim Huelskamp told CNN.

The Kansas Republican told CNN it was time to plot a way forward to repeal Obamacare and roll back the president’s actions on immigration — not focus on finding compromises with President Barack Obama.

“They want to all get along with the President, which is not the election results,” Huelskamp said about GOP leaders, adding, “that’s misreading exactly the opposite of what November 2014 is about.”

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, a tea-party favorite, in a speech before Heritage Foundation this week, said Congress should use “every procedural tool available including reconciliation to repeal Obamacare with 51 votes in the Senate.”

But other congressional Republicans argue it should be reserved for something the President could sign – like tax reform or a bill boosting infrastructure across the country.

Huelskamp said if leaders decided to use that process to do tax reform instead of repealing Obamacare that would be “a very stupid Republican decision – we’re going to help corporations and let the rest of these guys suffer?”

One potential complication for McConnell is maneuvering his plans while three Senate Republicans – Cruz, Florida Senator Marco Rubio, and Kentucky Senator Rand Paul – are preparing possible presidential campaigns for 2016. But Rubio and Paul are skipping the retreat.

CNN