Freedom Caucus: Difference between revisions

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→‎Membership: Congressman Massie is not a member of the Freedom Caucus. I work in his office and have gotten several calls regarding his membership, which has been misreported. Would appreciate it if he is removed to stop unnecessary calls.
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* [[Raúl Labrador]] of Idaho<ref name="Nine"/>
* [[Raúl Labrador]] of Idaho<ref name="Nine"/>
* [[Alex Mooney]] of West Virginia<ref name="blogs.rollcall.com"/>
* [[Alex Mooney]] of West Virginia<ref name="blogs.rollcall.com"/>
* [[Thomas Massie]] of Kentucky<ref name="Trump will be a one-term president if health care bill passes">{{cite web|url=http://www.theblaze.com/news/2017/03/23/trump-will-be-a-one-term-president-if-health-care-bill-passes-says-freedom-caucus-member/|title=Trump will be a one-term president if health care bill passes, says Freedom Caucus member|newspaper=The Blaze|date=March 23, 2017|access-date=March 25, 2017 |first=Carlos |last=Garcia }}</ref>
* [[Gary Palmer (politician)|Gary Palmer]] of Alabama<ref name="Vies"/>
* [[Gary Palmer (politician)|Gary Palmer]] of Alabama<ref name="Vies"/>
* [[Steve Pearce (politician)|Steve Pearce]] of New Mexico<ref name="Dozen">{{cite web |url= http://thehill.com/homenews/house/246337-the-dozen-rebels-targeted-by-gop-leaders|title= The dozen rebels targeted by GOP leaders|last= Wong|first= Scott|last2= Marcos|first2= Cristina |date= June 27, 2015|website= [[The Hill (newspaper)|The Hill]]|access-date= July 22, 2015}}</ref>
* [[Steve Pearce (politician)|Steve Pearce]] of New Mexico<ref name="Dozen">{{cite web |url= http://thehill.com/homenews/house/246337-the-dozen-rebels-targeted-by-gop-leaders|title= The dozen rebels targeted by GOP leaders|last= Wong|first= Scott|last2= Marcos|first2= Cristina |date= June 27, 2015|website= [[The Hill (newspaper)|The Hill]]|access-date= July 22, 2015}}</ref>

Revision as of 20:21, 27 March 2017

House Freedom Caucus
ChairmanMark Meadows (NC)
FoundedJanuary 26, 2015; 9 years ago (2015-01-26)
Split fromRepublican Study Committee
IdeologyConservatism
Fiscal conservatism
Social conservatism[1]
Political positionRight-wing [2][3][4][5][6]
National affiliationRepublican Party
Seats in the House
30 / 435

The Freedom Caucus, also known as the House Freedom Caucus, is a congressional caucus consisting of conservative Republican members of the United States House of Representatives.[7] It was formed in 2015 by what member Jim Jordan called a "smaller, more cohesive, more agile and more active" group of conservative Congressmen.[8]

Many members are also part of the Republican Study Committee, another conservative House group.[8][9] The caucus is sympathetic to the Tea Party movement.[10] According to its mission statement, it "gives a voice to countless Americans who feel that Washington does not represent them. We support open, accountable and limited government, the Constitution and the rule of law, and policies that promote the liberty, safety and prosperity of all Americans."[11]

History

The origins of the caucus lie at the mid-January 2015 Republican congressional retreat in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Nine conservative active Republican members of the House began planning a new Congressional caucus separate from the Republican Study Committee and apart from the House Republican Conference. The group ultimately became the nine founding members and the first board of directors for the new caucus consisting of Republican Representatives Scott Garrett of New Jersey, Jim Jordan of Ohio, John Fleming of Louisiana, Matt Salmon of Arizona, Justin Amash of Michigan, Raúl Labrador of Idaho, Mick Mulvaney of South Carolina, Ron DeSantis of Florida and Mark Meadows of North Carolina.[12]

The group debated over a name for their new caucus eventually settling on "House Freedom Caucus" (HFC) because, according to founding member Mick Mulvaney, "it was so generic and universally awful that we had no reason to be against it." The group of nine founding members in Hershey set as a criterion for new members that they had to be willing to vote against Speaker of the United States House of Representatives John Boehner on legislation that the group opposed.[13]

During the crisis over the funding of the Department of Homeland Security in early 2015, the Caucus offered four plans for resolution, but all were rejected by the Republican leadership. One of the caucus leaders, Labrador of Idaho, said the Caucus will offer an alternative that the most conservative Republican members could support.[14][needs update]

House speaker John Boehner resigns

The House Freedom Caucus was involved in the resignation of Boehner on September 25, 2015, and the ensuing leadership battle for the new Speaker.[15] Members of the Caucus who had voted against Boehner for Speaker felt unfairly punished, accusing him of cutting them off from positions in the Republican Study Committee and depriving them of key committee assignments.[failed verification] Boehner found it increasingly difficult to manage House Republicans with the fierce opposition of the Freedom Caucus, and he sparred with House Republican members in 2013 over their willingness to shut down the government in order to accomplish goals such as repealing the Affordable Care Act. These members later created and became members of the Freedom Caucus when it was created in 2015.[13][16][failed verification]

Initially, Kevin McCarthy, the House Majority Leader, was the lead contender, but the Freedom Caucus withheld its support.[17] However, McCarthy withdrew from the race on September 28, 2015.[18] On the same day as McCarthy's withdrawal, Reid Ribble resigned from the Freedom Caucus saying he had joined to promote certain policies and could not support the role that it was playing in the leadership race.[19]

On October 20, 2015, Paul Ryan announced that his bid for the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives was contingent on an official endorsement by the Freedom Caucus.[20] While the group could not reach the 80% approval that was needed to give an official endorsement, on October 21, 2015, it announced that it had reached a supermajority support for Ryan.[21] On October 29, 2015, Ryan succeeded John Boehner as the Speaker of the House.[22]

On November 16, 2015, Jim Jordan was re-elected as chairman of the caucus.[23]

Backlash

The group faced backlash from the Republican Party establishment during the 2016 election cycle.[24] One of its members, Congressman Tim Huelskamp, a Tea Party Republican representing Kansas's First District, was defeated during a primary election on August 2, 2016, by Roger Marshall.[25]

American Health Care Act

On March 24, 2017, the American Health Care Act (the House Republican bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act) was withdrawn by Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan because it lacked the votes to pass, due in large part to opposition from Freedom Caucus Republicans.[26][27][28]

On March 26, 2017 President of the United States Donald Trump publicly commented about the stance that the caucus had recently taken in conjunction with the Club for Growth and Heritage Action. Trump Tweeted: "Democrats are smiling in D.C. that the Freedom Caucus, with the help of Club For Growth and Heritage, have saved Planned Parenthood & Ocare!"[29][30]

Membership

Congressional District map for Freedom Caucus membership of the 114th Congress. Former members in light color.

The House Freedom Caucus is "so secretive that it will not disclose the names of its members."[31] In the current (115th) Congress, the group has about three dozen members.[31] A number of members have identified themselves, or have been identified by others, as members of the Freedom Caucus, as of March 2017 including:

Former members

See also

References

  1. ^ Reilly, Mollie (October 21, 2015). "House Conservatives Support Paul Ryan For Speaker, But Won't Formally Endorse Him". Huffington Post. Retrieved July 14, 2016.
  2. ^ French, Lauren (March 14, 2016). "House Freedom Caucus to break with leadership on budget". Politico. Retrieved July 14, 2016. Budget Committee Chairman Tom Price of Georgia and Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) have labored to gain the support of the far-right caucus
  3. ^ Sherman, Jake; French, Lauren (March 6, 2015). "Rebels with a cause". Politico. Retrieved July 22, 2015.
  4. ^ a b Newhauser, Daniel (June 24, 2015). "Boehner-vs.-Freedom-Caucus Battle Escalates". National Journal. Retrieved July 22, 2015.
  5. ^ Sullivan, Sean (March 4, 2015). "Insurgent bloc of House conservatives proving to be a thorn in Boehner's side". Washington Post. Retrieved July 22, 2015.
  6. ^ "House Freedom Caucus Looks to Bend Leadership to Its Will". Newsmax. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
  7. ^ Taylor, Tyler (January 28, 2015). "House Freedom Caucus Delays Immigration Bill". Headlines and Global News. Retrieved July 22, 2015.
  8. ^ a b Eaton, Sabrina (February 11, 2015). "It's official: Rep. Jim Jordan now chairs the House Freedom Caucus". Cleveland. Retrieved July 22, 2015.
  9. ^ Graf, Scott (January 28, 2015). "Idaho's Rep. Labrador Joins Other Tea Party Conservatives To Form 'Freedom Caucus'". Boise State Public Radio. Retrieved July 22, 2015.
  10. ^ Ferrechio, Susan (January 26, 2015). "Conservative lawmakers form House Freedom Caucus". Washington Examiner. Retrieved July 22, 2015.
  11. ^ Miller, Darin (January 26, 2015). "House Republicans form House Freedom Caucus". Congressman Jim Jordan. Retrieved July 22, 2015.
  12. ^ French, Lauren (January 26, 2015). "9 Republicans launch House Freedom Caucus". Politico. Retrieved December 26, 2016.
  13. ^ a b Lizza, Ryan. "A House Divided". The New Yorker. Retrieved December 9, 2015.
  14. ^ French, Lauren (March 3, 2015). "Conservatives offer John Boehner another DHS deal". Politico. Retrieved July 22, 2015.
  15. ^ Steinhauer, Jennifer (September 25, 2015). "John Boehner, House Speaker, Will Resign From Congress". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 23, 2015.
  16. ^ "A Brief History of the 2013 Government Shutdown". www.mediaite.com. Retrieved February 10, 2017.
  17. ^ "Kevin McCarthy Announces Run for Speaker of the House". The Atlantic. Retrieved October 23, 2015.
  18. ^ Costa, Mike DeBonis, Robert; Helderman, Rosalind S. (October 8, 2015). "House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy drops out of race for House speaker". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved October 23, 2015.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  19. ^ a b "Rep. Ribble leaves Freedom Caucus over moves in leadership race". Politico. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
  20. ^ David M. Herszenhorn (October 21, 2015), "Freedom Caucus Is Key to Paul Ryan House Speaker Decision", The New York Times
  21. ^ DeBonis, Mike; Costa, Robert (October 21, 2015). "'Supermajority' of House Freedom Caucus to back Paul Ryan's speaker bid". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved October 23, 2015.
  22. ^ Steinhauer, Jennifer (October 29, 2015). "Paul Ryan Is Elected House Speaker, Hoping to Manage Chaos". The New York Times. Retrieved June 20, 2016.
  23. ^ DeBonis, Mike (November 16, 2015). "Rep. Jim Jordan will remain House Freedom Caucus chairman". PowerPost. The Washington Post. Retrieved March 25, 2017.
  24. ^ Schneider, Elena (August 15, 2016). "The GOP establishment strikes back". Politico. Retrieved March 26, 2017. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  25. ^ Robertson, Joe; Tate, Curtis (August 2, 2016). "Tea party's Tim Huelskamp ousted by challenger Roger Marshall in Kansas congressional race". The Kansas City Star.
  26. ^ "Breaking: House Republicans withdraw health care bill". KFOR-TV. CNN Wire. March 24, 2017. Retrieved March 25, 2017. Freedom Caucus members stood by their ideological objections to a bill they say does not go far enough in repealing Obamacare.
  27. ^ Shannon Pettypiece Jennifer Jacobs & Billy House, Trump Meets Freedom Caucus and Result Is Legislative Disaster, Bloomberg (March 25, 2017).
  28. ^ Eliza Collins, Collapse of Obamacare repeal plan puts Freedom Caucus in complicated spot, USA Today (March 24, 2017): "While the bill faced critics from all factions of the party, no group played more of a role in sinking the legislation than the Freedom Caucus."
  29. ^ "Trump tweets about Democrats, Freedom Caucus after health care bill fails", CBS News (March 26, 2017).
  30. ^ Weber, Joseph. "Trump hits Freedom Caucus, Washington conservatives for nixing ObamaCare overhaul", Fox News (March 26, 2017).
  31. ^ a b c Emmarie Huetteman, On Health Law, G.O.P. Faces a Formidable Policy Foe: House Republicans, New York Times (March 20, 2017).
  32. ^ a b c d e f g h French, Lauren (January 26, 2015). "9 Republicans launch House Freedom Caucus". Politico. Retrieved July 22, 2015.
  33. ^ a b c d e f g h "House Freedom Caucus Forms 'Fight Club' in House". 218. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
  34. ^ @DaveBratVA7th (March 13, 2015). "Proud to be part of House Freedom Caucus" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  35. ^ a b c Fuller, Matt (September 16, 2015). "House Freedom Caucus Loses Member Over Planned Parenthood". CNN. Retrieved September 16, 2015.
  36. ^ May, Caroline (January 27, 2015). "House GOP To Regroup On Border Bill". Breitbart. Retrieved July 22, 2015.
  37. ^ Wong, Scott; Shabad, Rebecca; Marcos, Cristina (February 26, 2015). "House will vote Friday to prevent Homeland Security shutdown". The Hill. Retrieved July 22, 2015.
  38. ^ a b c d e Wong, Scott; Marcos, Cristina (June 27, 2015). "The dozen rebels targeted by GOP leaders". The Hill. Retrieved July 22, 2015.
  39. ^ "Boehner's successor joins Freedom Caucus". Politico. June 9, 2016.
  40. ^ Broden, Scott (April 22, 2015). "DesJarlais raises $144,677 for 2016 campaign". The Daily News Journal. Retrieved July 22, 2015.
  41. ^ Palmer, Anna; French, Lauren (February 5, 2015). "Ron DeSantis, Jeff Duncan quit House whip team". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved July 22, 2015.
  42. ^ Portnoy, Jenna (March 15, 2017). "Three Virginia GOP congressmen, including Rep. Tom Garrett in 5th District, line up against GOP health care plan". The Roanoke Times. Retrieved March 26, 2017.
  43. ^ Strong, Jonathon (January 27, 2015). "Secretive 'Freedom Caucus' Claims Scalp On Border Bill Delay". Breitbart. Retrieved July 22, 2015.
  44. ^ a b Darnell, Tim (March 19, 2015). "Can the House Freedom Caucus save the GOP?". Peach Pundit. Retrieved July 22, 2015.
  45. ^ Eaton, Sabrina (February 11, 2015). "It's official: Rep. Jim Jordan now chairs the House Freedom Caucus". Cleveland Plain Dealer. Retrieved March 26, 2017.
  46. ^ a b Drew DeSilver (October 20, 2015), What is the House Freedom Caucus, and who's in it?, Pew Research Center
  47. ^ Newhauser, Daniel; Mimms, Sarah; Roubein, Rachel (February 26, 2015). "Boehner Has a Plan to Avoid a DHS Shutdown—But It Might Not Pass". National Journal. Retrieved July 22, 2015.
  48. ^ Pathé, Simone (December 10, 2016). "Louisiana Runoffs Increase Republican Majorities in Senate and House". Roll Call. Retrieved March 25, 2017.
  49. ^ "Tim Huelskamp, Anti-Establishment House Republican, Loses Primary in Kansas". New York Times. August 3, 2016.
  50. ^ Hallerman, Tamar (March 2, 2017). "Barry Loudermilk quietly leaves the House Freedom Caucus". Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved March 7, 2017.
  51. ^ Fox, Lauren (March 26, 2017). "Rep. Poe resigns from House Freedom Caucus". CNN. Retrieved March 27, 2017.
  52. ^ Mauriello, Tracie (January 6, 2017). "Freedom Caucus may play role in alternate Obamacare repeal timeline". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved January 14, 2017.

Further reading