As the Republican Party examines the way forward after two presidential election defeats, the results of a new Pew Research poll showed that a majority of Republicans think the GOP should move in a more conservative direction on policy.

The poll found that 54 percent of Republican and Republican-leaning voters think the party should move in a more conservative direction, while 40 percent said the GOP should move in a more moderate direction.

Self-described conservative Republicans and Tea Party supporters overwhelmingly favor moving in a more conservative direction, while moderates and liberals in the party favor more centrist positions.

However, Pew Research noted that the more moderate wing of the party is a minority generally and makes up an even smaller share of the likely primary electorate.

The poll results may embolden the more conservative Republican members of Congress, who have recently clashed with the more moderate members of the party on certain issues.

Wednesday's decision by the House leadership to pull a bill funding the Transportation and Housing and Urban Development Departments was seen as the latest example of the split in the Republican Party.

The bill, commonly known on Capitol Hill as THUD, included budget cuts beyond the automatic spending reductions enacted by the sequester.

While some conservative Republicans still said the bill did not cut spending enough, some moderate members felt that the spending cuts went too far.

However, House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, claimed that the decision to pull the bill was related to timing, noting that there were approximately 50 amendments yet to consider on the bill.

Boehner said he had full confidence that the votes would have been there to pass the bill and said the House would pass the measure when they return from recess in September.

The Pew Research poll found that 46 percent of Republican and Republican-leaning voters think the party's position on government spending is "not conservative enough."

Another 41 percent said the GOP's position on spending is "about right," while just 10 percent said the party's position is "too conservative".

As both parties in Congress prepare for a looming budget showdown, the poll showed that Republicans are split on how their members of Congress have dealt with Democrats.

Thirty-five percent of Republican and Republican-leaning voters said Congressional Republicans have compromise too much, while 32 percent said they have handled things about right and 27 percent said they have not compromised enough.

The survey of 497 Republican and Republican-leaning voters was conducted July 17th through 21st and has a margin of error of plus or minus 5.1 percentage points.

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