The Freedom Caucus, also known as the House Freedom Caucus, is a congressional caucus of conservative members of the Republican Party in the United States House of Representatives. It is generally considered to be the most conservative bloc within the chamber.Mark Barrett, Meadows in line to lead House's most conservative wing, ‘’Asheville Citizen-Times’’ (December 3, 2016): "the House Freedom Caucus, which occupies the furthest-right position on the ideological spectrum in the U.S. House..."
Formed in January 2015 by a number of conservative lawmakers, including several associated with the Tea Party movement, the caucus was created to advocate for a more conservative policy agenda and press Republican leadership to the right. Its first chairman was Jim Jordan, and its current chairman is Andy Harris. Members typically support policies associated with fiscal and social conservatism, including lower federal spending, limited government, and rigorous immigration oversight.The Freedom Caucus has been widely described as right-wing:
Over time, the caucus has been associated with right-wing populist and national conservatism, particularly during the presidencies of Donald Trump. It has also included some libertarians. The Freedom Caucus has often taken an assertive role in internal House politics, sometimes opposing legislation supported by Republican leadership or using procedural tools to influence the legislative process. Members of the caucus played a role in the removal of Kevin McCarthy as Speaker of the House. Members have also supported efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act and have advocated for changes to House rules to decentralize power.
The caucus supports House candidates through its PAC, the House Freedom Fund.
History The caucus originated during the mid–January 2015 Republican congressional retreat in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Nine conservative 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 founding members who constituted the first board of directors for the new caucus were 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.
At the retreat in Pennsylvania, the group settled on the name Freedom Caucus. Mick Mulvaney told Ryan Lizza of the New Yorker, "We had twenty names, and all of them were terrible. None of us liked the Freedom Caucus, either, but it was so generic and so universally awful that we had no reason to be against it." According to Lizza, "one of the working titles for the group was the Reasonable Nutjob Caucus."
During the crisis over funding for the Department of Homeland Security in early 2015, the caucus offered four plans to resolve it, which the Republican leadership rejected. One of the caucus leaders, Raúl Labrador, said the caucus would offer an alternative that the most conservative Republican members could support.
Opposition to Speaker of the House John Boehner The caucus declared that a criterion for new members would be opposition to John Boehner as Speaker of the House and a willingness to oppose him on designated legislation.
The House Freedom Caucus was involved in Boehner's resignation on September 25, 2015, and the ensuing leadership battle for the new speaker. Members of the caucus who voted against Boehner for speaker accused him of cutting them off from positions in the Republican Study Committee and depriving them of key committee assignments. Boehner found it increasingly difficult to manage the fierce opposition of these conservative Republicans. He sparred with them in 2013 over their willingness to shut down the government in pursuit of goals such as repealing the Affordable Care Act. These Republicans later formed and joined the Freedom Caucus in 2015.
After Boehner resigned as speaker, Kevin McCarthy, the House majority leader, was initially the lead contender to succeed him, but the Freedom Caucus withheld its support. However, McCarthy withdrew from the race on October 8, 2015, after appearing to suggest that the Benghazi investigation's purpose had been to lower the approval ratings of Hillary Clinton. 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.
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. 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. On October 29, 2015, Ryan succeeded Boehner as the speaker of the House.
On October 30, 2017, Vanity Fair published an interview with Boehner, who said of the Freedom Caucus: "They can't tell you what they're for. They can tell you everything they're against. They're anarchists. They want total chaos. Tear it all down and start over. That's where their mindset is."
Backlash in 2016 The group faced backlash from the Republican Party establishment during the 2016 election cycle. One of its members, Representative Tim Huelskamp, a Tea Party Republican representing Kansas's first district, was defeated during a primary election on August 2, 2016, by Roger Marshall.
2017–2021: First Trump presidency
Following the election of Donald Trump, Mulvaney said, "Trump wants to turn Washington upside down – that was his first message and his winning message. We want the exact same thing. To the extent that he's got to convince Republicans to change Washington, we're there to help him ... and I think that makes us Donald Trump's best allies in the House." Freedom Caucus vice chair Jim Jordan said that during the Trump administration, the Freedom Caucus shifted focus from passing legislation to defending the President.
Rejection of the American Health Care Act in 2017 On March 24, 2017, the American Health Care Act (AHCA), 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 who believed that the replacement provisions had the effect of failing to repeal some elements of the original Affordable Care Act.Shannon Pettypiece Jennifer Jacobs & Billy House, Trump Meets Freedom Caucus and Result Is Legislative Disaster, Bloomberg (March 25, 2017).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."
Two days later, President Trump publicly criticized the Freedom Caucus and other right-wing groups, such as the Club for Growth and Heritage Action, that opposed the bill. 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 & Obamacare!" On the same day, Representative Ted Poe of Texas resigned from the Freedom Caucus.Abby Livingston, "U.S. Rep. Ted Poe resigns from Freedom Caucus", Texas Tribune (March 26, 2017). On March 30, 2017, Trump "declared war" on the Freedom Caucus, sending a tweet urging Republicans to "fight them" in the 2018 midterm elections "if they don't get on the team" (i.e., support Trump's proposals).Glenn Thrush, "'We Must Fight Them': Trump Goes After Conservatives of Freedom Caucus", The New York Times (March 30, 2017). Vocal Freedom Caucus member Justin Amash responded by accusing Trump of "succumb[ing] to the D.C. Establishment."Jordan Fabian, Trump threatens to 'fight' Freedom Caucus in midterms, The Hill (March 30, 2017).
Trump later developed a closer relationship with the caucus chair, Mark Meadows. In April 2018, Trump described three caucus membersMeadows, Jim Jordan, and Ron DeSantisas "absolute warriors" for his defense during the course of the Special Counsel investigation.
During the first impeachment of Trump In May 2019, the Freedom Caucus officially condemned one of its founding members, Justin Amash, after he called for the impeachment of President Trump over the Trump–Ukraine scandal. Amash, an outspoken libertarian, announced in June 2019 that he had left the caucus; later the same year, he left the Republican Party and joined the Libertarian Party.
During the Trump impeachment inquiry and the subsequent impeachment, the caucus emerged as a defender of the President.
Meadows's appointment as WH chief of staff and criticism of Liz Cheney In March 2020, former Freedom Caucus chair Mark Meadows was appointed as White House chief of staff, replacing fellow caucus member Mick Mulvaney.
Freedom Caucus members called on Liz Cheney to resign as Chair of the House Republican Conference, because of her criticism of Trump's foreign policy, response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and use of social media, leading to her firing May 12, 2021, and replacement by Elise Stefanik two days later.
2020 National Defense Authorization Act In December 2020, the caucus sided with Donald Trump and opposed the NDAA because it did not include a provision to repeal Section 230.
2021–2023: 117th Congress and embrace of populism
Role in attempting to overturn the 2020 election and opposition to the second Trump impeachment After Trump lost his bid for reelection in November 2020, many members of the Freedom Caucus supported Trump's attempt to overturn the election results. In early December 2020, amid pressure from Trump on congressional Republicans to help him subvert the election outcome, two dozen House Republicans, including many Freedom Caucus members, sent a letter to Trump asking him to order his Attorney General, William P. Barr, to appoint a Justice Department special counsel to investigate supposed election "irregularities", even though Barr had previously acknowledged that there was no evidence justifying such a step.Rachael Bade, Josh Dawsey & Tom Hamburger, Trump pressures congressional Republicans to help in his fight to overturn the election, Washington Post (December 10, 2020). Several Freedom Caucus members met with officials at Trump's White House in December 2020, discussing ways to overturn the election results during the 2021 United States Electoral College vote count.Farnoush Amiri, Evidence mounts of GOP involvement in Trump election schemes, Associated Press (May 1, 2022). Most Freedom Caucus members objected to the counting of the electoral votes that formalized Trump's defeat.
During the second impeachment of Donald Trump for incitement of insurrection, Freedom Caucus leadership and members demanded that Representative Liz Cheney, one of 10 Republicans who voted in favor of impeachment, resign from her role as chairwoman of the House Republican Conference.Mike DeBonis, Josh Dawsey & Seung Min Kim, Several senior Republicans join impeachment push, Washington Post (January 13, 2021).Catie Edmondson, Cheney facing internal backlash for impeachment vote as Republican rifts deepen over Trump., New York Times (January 14, 2021).Lindsey McPherson, House impeaches Trump in wake of mob attack on Capitol, Roll Call (January 13, 2021).
America First Caucus and MAGA Squad