Story highlights Errol Louis: The conflict over Sandy relief reflects deep division in Republican Party

He says the House majority is split between pragmatic pols and radical budget cutters

John Boehner is caught in the middle, trying to keep a lid on the battle, Louis says

Louis: Complaints, threats by Christie, King show they fear the aid request will be chopped

The battle over relief funding for areas devastated by Superstorm Sandy should leave no doubt about whether there is a war within the Republican Party over the fundamentals of taxation and spending.

On one side are old-school pols who are committed to reducing government deficits but willing to engage in traditional horse-trading with their big-spending liberal colleagues -- and to support items such as relief for disasters, which can strike any region of the country at any time.

On the other side are dyed-in-the-wool budget radicals, who believe government spending must be curtailed, deeply and immediately. They are perfectly comfortable slicing, delaying or crippling normally sacrosanct programs, including disaster relief.

The two sides are engaged in an old-fashioned power struggle, with Speaker of the House John Boehner as the man in the middle, trying to keep a lid on the battle. The factional fighting delayed and nearly destroyed the fiscal cliff negotiations, with Boehner unable to persuade most of his Republican members to vote for a compromise bill that kept taxes from increasing for nearly all Americans.

Errol Louis

Trying to get a vote on hurricane relief the same night proved to be a bridge too far. Boehner, struggling to keep his divided caucus in line -- and facing a critical vote to renew his speakership -- decided to kill the aid bill.

It might have kept the budget hawks happy for a moment, but Republicans in New York and New Jersey were furious. And the mood turned ugly.

Rarely do public accusations of political betrayal sound as personal -- at times, nearly shrill -- as the howls that came from New York and New Jersey Republicans over Boehner's last-minute refusal to allow a promised vote on $60 billion worth of relief for areas hard hit by Sandy.

"The speaker just decided to pull the vote. He gave no explanation," said Rep. Michael Grimm, a tea party member who is the sole remaining Republican member of Congress from New York City. "I feel I was misled from the very beginning," he said in a radio interview.

Rep. Peter King, a senior New York Republican, was even blunter. "This has been a betrayal of trust," he said. "We were told at every stage that [a vote] was definitely going on. It is inexcusable. It is wrong."

Photos: Photos: Long, slow recovery from Superstorm Sandy Photos: Photos: Long, slow recovery from Superstorm Sandy Long, slow recovery from Superstorm Sandy – David McCue stands near the roof of his beach house, which was completely demolished by Superstorm Sandy, in Ortley Beach, New Jersey, on Sunday, November 25. See photos of the immediate aftermath of Sandy. Hide Caption 1 of 40 Photos: Photos: Long, slow recovery from Superstorm Sandy Long, slow recovery from Superstorm Sandy – Utility workers replace a pole Sunday that was damaged by Superstorm Sandy in Seaside Heights, New Jersey. Hide Caption 2 of 40 Photos: Photos: Long, slow recovery from Superstorm Sandy Long, slow recovery from Superstorm Sandy – Old photographs are laid out to dry on a car hood on Sunday after being removed from a home in Seaside Heights. Hide Caption 3 of 40 Photos: Photos: Long, slow recovery from Superstorm Sandy Long, slow recovery from Superstorm Sandy – Rena McCain cleans out the first floor of her home in Seaside Heights on Sunday. Hide Caption 4 of 40 Photos: Photos: Long, slow recovery from Superstorm Sandy Long, slow recovery from Superstorm Sandy – Little remains of this home in Union Beach, New Jersey, on Tuesday, November 20, after Superstorm Sandy devastated the area. Hide Caption 5 of 40 Photos: Photos: Long, slow recovery from Superstorm Sandy Long, slow recovery from Superstorm Sandy – Wilma Marrero and son Joseph Kendall wait in line about five hours Tuesday for food and other items from a Coney Island distribution point in Brooklyn, New York. Hide Caption 6 of 40 Photos: Photos: Long, slow recovery from Superstorm Sandy Long, slow recovery from Superstorm Sandy – Volunteers on Tuesday remove flooring from a Keansburg, New Jersey, home damaged by the storm. Hide Caption 7 of 40 Photos: Photos: Long, slow recovery from Superstorm Sandy Long, slow recovery from Superstorm Sandy – People walk along a beach in the heavily damaged Rockaway neighborhood in the Queens borough of New York on Friday, November 16. Hide Caption 8 of 40 Photos: Photos: Long, slow recovery from Superstorm Sandy Long, slow recovery from Superstorm Sandy – Amy Neukom works to remove sand from her parents' house in Mantoloking, New Jersey, on Friday -- a result of Superstorm Sandy. Hide Caption 9 of 40 Photos: Photos: Long, slow recovery from Superstorm Sandy Long, slow recovery from Superstorm Sandy – Residents wait for free food in a parking lot in Rockaway on Friday. Hide Caption 10 of 40 Photos: Photos: Long, slow recovery from Superstorm Sandy Long, slow recovery from Superstorm Sandy – President Barack Obama embraces a local resident on Cedar Grove Avenue during a visit to Staten Island on Thursday, November 15. Hide Caption 11 of 40 Photos: Photos: Long, slow recovery from Superstorm Sandy Long, slow recovery from Superstorm Sandy – People receive free sandwiches from a mobile food distribution center in the Rockaway neighborhood of Queens, New York, on Thursday. Hide Caption 12 of 40 Photos: Photos: Long, slow recovery from Superstorm Sandy Long, slow recovery from Superstorm Sandy – Residents take free clothing Thursday at the Ocean Bay Action Center in Queens. Hide Caption 13 of 40 Photos: Photos: Long, slow recovery from Superstorm Sandy Long, slow recovery from Superstorm Sandy – A tattered U.S. flag flies over the storm-damaged boardwalk in the Rockaway section of Queens on Thursday. Hide Caption 14 of 40 Photos: Photos: Long, slow recovery from Superstorm Sandy Long, slow recovery from Superstorm Sandy – Lisa Baney walks back toward her family's home in Bay Head, New Jersey, after taking a photo of a neighbor's destroyed house Wednesday, November 14. Hide Caption 15 of 40 Photos: Photos: Long, slow recovery from Superstorm Sandy Long, slow recovery from Superstorm Sandy – A living room is filled with sand Wednesday washed in by Superstorm Sandy in Point Pleasant Beach, New Jersey. Two weeks after the storm hit, many residents of the seaside town remain without power. Hide Caption 16 of 40 Photos: Photos: Long, slow recovery from Superstorm Sandy Long, slow recovery from Superstorm Sandy – People wait in line to receive free food from the American Red Cross on Wednesday in the heavily damaged Rockaway neighborhood of Queens, New York. Thousands are still without power and heat. Hide Caption 17 of 40 Photos: Photos: Long, slow recovery from Superstorm Sandy Long, slow recovery from Superstorm Sandy – People walk past a destroyed miniature golf attraction Wednesday in Point Pleasant, New Jersey. Hide Caption 18 of 40 Photos: Photos: Long, slow recovery from Superstorm Sandy Long, slow recovery from Superstorm Sandy – Heavy equipment operator Bill Unger carries photos he salvaged from a mass dump of household possessions on Tuesday in the Midland Beach area of the Staten Island. Unger said he's been collecting the photos as he cleans and taking them to his daughter, who is posting them on Facebook for neighborhood residents to find and later collect. Hide Caption 19 of 40 Photos: Photos: Long, slow recovery from Superstorm Sandy Long, slow recovery from Superstorm Sandy – People wait in line to collect some of the 1,500 donated coats from New York Cares on Tuesday in Queens. The charity started its annual coat drive early this year to assist those affected by Superstorm Sandy. It hopes to collect 200,000 coats this winter. Hide Caption 20 of 40 Photos: Photos: Long, slow recovery from Superstorm Sandy Long, slow recovery from Superstorm Sandy – A woman walks past debris on Rockaway Beach on Tuesday. Hide Caption 21 of 40 Photos: Photos: Long, slow recovery from Superstorm Sandy Long, slow recovery from Superstorm Sandy – A New York police officer jumps over a large crack in a boardwalk in Brooklyn on Wednesday, November 14. The boardwalk was damaged by the storm surge from Hurricane Sandy. Hide Caption 22 of 40 Photos: Photos: Long, slow recovery from Superstorm Sandy Long, slow recovery from Superstorm Sandy – Insurance claims adjusters walk past burned-out houses Wednesday in the Breezy Point section of Queens, New York. A fire that broke out in the neighborhood during the storm destroyed more than 100 homes. Hide Caption 23 of 40 Photos: Photos: Long, slow recovery from Superstorm Sandy Long, slow recovery from Superstorm Sandy – A family friend of a drowning victim of Superstorm Sandy looks through household debris in New York on Tuesday, November 13. Hide Caption 24 of 40 Photos: Photos: Long, slow recovery from Superstorm Sandy Long, slow recovery from Superstorm Sandy – A man looks through the home of a drowning victim Tuesday. Hide Caption 25 of 40 Photos: Photos: Long, slow recovery from Superstorm Sandy Long, slow recovery from Superstorm Sandy – Children wait to board buses to temporary schools in the Rockaway Beach neighborhood of Queens, New York, on Tuesday. The Rockaways peninsula was hit especially hard when Sandy barreled into the East Coast on October 29, unleashing a record storm surge that flooded low-lying areas and fierce winds that toppled trees and power lines. Hide Caption 26 of 40 Photos: Photos: Long, slow recovery from Superstorm Sandy Long, slow recovery from Superstorm Sandy – A home damaged by Sandy is seen in Union Beach, New Jersey, on Monday, November 12. Hide Caption 27 of 40 Photos: Photos: Long, slow recovery from Superstorm Sandy Long, slow recovery from Superstorm Sandy – A resident of Breezy Point in Queens walks past houses destroyed by fire during Sandy on Monday. Hide Caption 28 of 40 Photos: Photos: Long, slow recovery from Superstorm Sandy Long, slow recovery from Superstorm Sandy – Shoes are set out to dry Monday on the steps of a house in an area that was completely flooded on the south side of Staten Island in New York City. Hide Caption 29 of 40 Photos: Photos: Long, slow recovery from Superstorm Sandy Long, slow recovery from Superstorm Sandy – Dale Freeman stands in his water-damaged apartment in a public housing building that still doesn't have power on Monday in Brooklyn. About 58,000 customers in the Rockaways, Long Island and Brooklyn require more extensive repairs before electricity can be restored. Hide Caption 30 of 40 Photos: Photos: Long, slow recovery from Superstorm Sandy Long, slow recovery from Superstorm Sandy – Residents who returned to their damaged homes line up for a hot meal served from a Red Cross vehicle on Samson Avenue in Seaside Heights, New Jersey, on Monday. Hide Caption 31 of 40 Photos: Photos: Long, slow recovery from Superstorm Sandy Long, slow recovery from Superstorm Sandy – A home damaged by Sandy lists in Mantoloking, New Jersey, on Monday. Hide Caption 32 of 40 Photos: Photos: Long, slow recovery from Superstorm Sandy Long, slow recovery from Superstorm Sandy – One room has power Monday in Rockaway, where many areas are still without electricity. "If you don't have your power back, it probably means power can't be restored to your home at this time," New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Monday afternoon. Hide Caption 33 of 40 Photos: Photos: Long, slow recovery from Superstorm Sandy Long, slow recovery from Superstorm Sandy – Debris strewen by Superstorm Sandy sits piled outside a damaged home in Mantoloking, New Jersey, on Monday. Hide Caption 34 of 40 Photos: Photos: Long, slow recovery from Superstorm Sandy Long, slow recovery from Superstorm Sandy – People line up to receive donated items from Catholic Charities of Brooklyn and Queens at Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Catholic Church in Brooklyn on Monday. Hide Caption 35 of 40 Photos: Photos: Long, slow recovery from Superstorm Sandy Long, slow recovery from Superstorm Sandy – People gather for donated food beneath a spotlight in an area still without power on Monday in Rockaway. Hide Caption 36 of 40 Photos: Photos: Long, slow recovery from Superstorm Sandy Long, slow recovery from Superstorm Sandy – Roofers repair damage Monday on a home in the Annadale neighborhood of Staten Island. Hide Caption 37 of 40 Photos: Photos: Long, slow recovery from Superstorm Sandy Long, slow recovery from Superstorm Sandy – An SUV sits atop the debris from a home in Mantoloking, New Jersey, on Monday. Hide Caption 38 of 40 Photos: Photos: Long, slow recovery from Superstorm Sandy Long, slow recovery from Superstorm Sandy – A woman makes her way past trash piles in Lower Manhattan on Monday. Hide Caption 39 of 40 Photos: Photos: Long, slow recovery from Superstorm Sandy Long, slow recovery from Superstorm Sandy – A man looks through donated clothes and supplies at nightfall Monday in Rockaway. Hide Caption 40 of 40

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New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a rising star in the Republican Party, held a news conference to attack Boehner. "It was disgusting to watch," he said. "One set of Republicans was trying to prove something to another set."

Christie put his finger on the dynamic that is likely to drive Republican politics for the next few years. A fair number of GOP members of Congress no doubt supported Boehner's move.

Rep. Darrell Issa of California, who chairs the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, took to the airwaves to denounce the $60 billion bill, specifically blaming Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York.

"They had the opportunity to have a $27 [billion] to $30 billion dollar legit relief package, packed it with pork, then dared us not to vote on it," said Issa. "The speaker has the support of the majority of Republicans that if we're going to provide relief, we can't allow it to be doubled with unrelated pork no matter where the relief is."

Translation: Republican budget hawks plan to give the areas devastated by Sandy half -- or less -- of what New York and New Jersey requested. And even powerful, nationally popular Republicans like Christie may not be able to budge them.

One sign of where the power lies -- for the moment, at least -- is the threats made by Grimm and King.

"We were betrayed. We were let down. There have to be consequences," said Grimm, who at first suggested he might not vote for Boehner to continue as speaker.

King suggested that New York's wealthy donors close their wallets to Republican leaders. "Anyone from New York or New Jersey who contributes one penny to congressional Republicans is out of their minds," he said.

Such statements betray the sort of pure frustration often voiced by men who lack the power to make good on their threats. King later pronounced himself satisfied after meeting with Boehner.

The speaker said the House will vote Friday on part of the Sandy relief package, and that the rest of the legislation will be taken up by the next Congress in about two weeks -- long enough for the different sides to catch their breath before resuming the civil war in the Republican Party.