GOP Hardliners' Demands and Actions Cause Tensions and Frustration Within Party.

Tensions have erupted in the House GOP as party leaders squabble over hardliners' demands, with top Republicans blaming each other for Tuesday's surprise floor defeat when a band of Republicans tanked a procedural vote on a GOP messaging bill. Allies of Speaker Kevin McCarthy have directed their frustration at his top deputy, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, for mishandling a demand by a conservative hardliner, Rep. Andrew Clyde of Georgia, for a vote on a bill to loosen a gun regulation. Meanwhile, Scalise's allies believe it falls on McCarthy, whose deal-cutting with President Joe Biden to suspend the debt limit prompted accusations from the far-right that he violated the terms of his January agreement to become speaker.