Republicans on the Hill are so frustrated with the White House that when Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, R-IL, criticized the administration at a House GOP meeting last week, the caucus burst into applause, The Hill newspaper reported.

The meeting was the latest sign that lawmakers are unhappy with the way the administration treats them, according to the paper.

One GOP lawmaker reportedly said Hastert “expressed outright dismay with the White House staff for the way the transportation bill had been handled. They did not give the priority necessary to the issue in resolving it as the speaker had.”

A rank-and-file lawmaker reportedly said: “Hastert was frustrated and disappointed that he had not been dealt with openly and fairly and given accurate information. He was not so much speaking to the conference as he was speaking for the conference.”

It is the transportation bill, on which the White House remains determined to hold down costs, that appears to have brought Hastert’s frustration to a boil. Earlier this month, he ordered a White House legislative aide to leave his office, the paper said.

Finally, House leaders say, Iraq and the presidential election campaign loom over everything the House does. Majority Whip Roy Blunt, R-MO, told The Hill: “It is hard to get any message through. The political clutter demands a higher level of coordination between the White House and congressional Republicans.

“The campaign is overwhelming everything. The comments people are making would not be made if this were not an election year.”