Top GOP congressional aides have demanded that their colleagues at the Republican National Committee rein in Chairman Michael Steele after Steele suggested House Republicans could not retake the majority this November.
House and Senate leadership aides used a conference call Wednesday with RNC staff to voice their latest frustrations with Steele, who said "not this year" when asked Jan. 4 on Fox News whether the GOP would win control of the House in 2010.
This isn't the first time Steele has come under fire from Capitol Hill. He ignited a moderate backlash early in his tenure and again in November when he warned moderates against leaning too far to the left. In an ABC interview in November, Steele said: "Candidates who live in moderate to slightly liberal districts have got to walk a little bit carefully here, because you do not want to put yourself in a position where you're crossing that line on conservative principles, fiscal principles, because we'll come after you."
One Republican Senate aide familiar with Wednesday's conference call said Steele's latest remark couldn't have come at a worse time. "Democrats were having a bad week," the aide said. "They had retirements out of the blue, the poll numbers were in our favor and now all of sudden the news is that Republicans are somehow at fault."
According to multiple sources, Republican congressional aides bristled at Steele's decision to use his book tour to question Republicans' political chances. They pressed RNC staff to keep Steele quiet and cancel any more media appearances.
