Will Freedom Caucus Continue To Influence The Republicans?

House Freedom Caucus re-elects Jordan as chairman

Posted on November 17, 2015 by Tribune News Service

WASHINGTON (TNS) — The House Freedom Caucus unanimously re-elected Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) Monday evening to serve as its chairman for 2016.

Members of the conservative caucus cast their votes in the basement of Tortilla Coast, the Capitol Hill haunt where the group has gathered many times before, reaffirming Jordan’s leadership of the HFC.

Founded in January, some of the 39-member HFC said it was an easy decision asking Jordan to remain chairman for the group’s second year in existence.

“He’s done a fantastic job representing our values and trying to get Congress to do what America needs doing,” Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) said after the vote.

In the first several months, the HFC has distinguished itself as the contrarian contingent in the House Republican Conference, primarily concerned with voting down procedural rules and holding out support for must-pass bills to contract ideological concessions.

Its pursuit of conservative principles culminated in Speaker John Boehner’s resignation and Paul Ryan’s ascent to speaker.

The next year is important for the HFC, particularly as it watches to see whether the Wisconsin Republican delivers on his pledge to preside over a more collaborative, inclusive House. Will the group be successful in getting leadership to promote its priorities, or will HFC members be forced to pursue another leadership coup?

Jordan will play an important role in determining how the HFC moves ahead in 2016, as Congress conducts its business within the atmospherics of a presidential election.

On Monday, Reps. Raul R. Labrador (R-Idaho) and Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) stepped down from the nine-member HFC Board to allow elections of two new board members by secret ballot: Reps. Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.) and Steve Peace (R-N.M).

Even with Jordan’s re-election, there are several ambitious conservatives who are already viewed as potential successors to the group’s first chairman:

• Labrador, who ran unsuccessfully for majority leader in 2014 in the shakeup after Virginia Republican Eric Cantor lost his primary to Dave Brat.
• Brooks, who is second perhaps only to non-HFC member Steve King of Iowa as the House’s most vocal opponent to immigration overhaul legislation.
• Mick Mulvaney of South Carolina and Justin Amash of Michigan are sought-after spokesmen for the HFC.
• Ken Buck of Colorado could want a seat at the table again, once he is no longer the freshman class president.
• Mark Meadows of North Carolina, who catapulted out of obscurity when he fired conservatives’ first shot against the “establishment” by filing a motion to strip Boehner of his gavel, which eventually led to Boehner’s resignation last month.

–Emma Dumain
CQ-Roll Call

___

(c)2015 CQ-Roll Call, Inc., All Rights Reserved. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.