There are all kinds of battles between all kinds of people. There is the famous Kramer v. Kramer movie that is a battle royale between a divorcing couple. There is the battle between the Hatfields and the McCoys.

And now there is the battle between the McConnells and the McCarthys. I refer specifically to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnnell and the possible House Speaker, Kevin McCarthy.

It seems that McConnell has signed on to a trillion dollar Senate bill that pays past debts of the country and pays for numerous government programs, including the Defense Department.

Mr. McCarthy is upset that the Republican senator didn’t wait until next year when the GOP will take over the House of Representatives. If that omnibus bill were to be on the agenda next year, McCarthy’s colleagues would have a chance to insert their own priorities.

Senator McConnell may look like Oscar the Grouch, but he is a very pragmatic politician. He knows that he can negotiate with Majority Leader Chuck Schumer over his needs, but once McCarthy’s conference has anything to say, there will be demands for such things as cuts in Medicare and Social Security and McConnell wants to avoid those kinds of headaches.

McCarthy is attempting to lock up the speakership and he would love to have his group having a say over the process. So right now he is boiling mad at McConnell.

McCarthy has launched a few tirades at his Republican colleague and has threatened that in January his boys and girls will do all kinds of things to get even with the senator.

To add to McCarthy’s bluster, ten of his fellow House members have threatened that they will kill any pet project of a Republican senator if they don’t let the new House in on the negotiations.

Those threats didn’t work because by the time this column is published, the bill will have passed and signed into law.

If the two warring groups were populated by grown adults, this battle over one item should be over and there will be harmony come January when the House leadership changes. But there are major differences between the new House Republican membership and the long-serving Republican senators.

The new House majority includes at least 50 members, who believe that they were sent to Washington to blow up the Capitol. They want to cut back on social programs and pass bill after bill dismantling agencies as well the Constitution.

Mitch McConnell is a very patient man. His delegation lost out on the chance to run the Senate in 2023 due to the recent election losses. But 2024 will give him another shot at power, when 24 seats are up for reelection, with the majority of them held by Democrats.

If McConnell were to support some of the crazy things that the House will be doing, he knows that would be the kiss of death for his next battle. Ideas such as cutting Medicare are referred to as the “third rail of politics” and not a very safe political position.

There is always a possibility the battle will cease and Mc Connell and Mc Carthy will kiss and make up. But McCarthy’s team has a lot of crazy people like Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert, who have an agenda of their own.

Their plan doesn’t include signing any peace treaties with Mitch McConnell and his gang. So that means two wars. One against the Democratic Senate and the other one against their own party members.

The year 2023 promises to be a very interesting year. Potential Republican candidates for president will begin hinting at their availability at the same time as former president Trump will be fighting for his political life.

Add that to the family feud between McConnell and McCarthy, and you have enough material to make a movie with Sylvester Stallone.