What the Heck is the House Freedom Caucus?

The House Freedom Caucus is a group of about 40 extremely right-wing Congressmen who have banded together to push their aligned interests. Their membership is not published and their agenda appears to be more procedural than ideological.  

Let’s get down to brass tacks with some hard questions.

 

 

Formed in January at the start of the 144th Congress, the House Freedom Caucus is still a mystery. There is still a good deal we don’t know about them. For example, we don’t know exactly who the members are, except that it consists of about 40 extremely right-wing Congressmen. We do know who the founding members are: Rep. Jim Jordan (Ohio), Rep. Scott Garrett (New Jersey), Rep. John Fleming ( Louisiana), Rep. Matt Salmon ( Arizona), Rep. Justin Amash (Michigan), Rep. Raul Labrador (Idaho), Rep. Mick Mulvaney (South Carolina), Rep. Ron DeSantis (Florida), and Rep. Mark Meadows (North Carolina).  Beyond that, understanding the HFC consists of educated guesses and speculation about its composition. In July CQ Roll Call released a list of 38 known members, though one of whom has since dropped out. 

 

 

The HFC is the caucus of contrarians. They hail from the anti-government, pro-life, pro-second amendment, anti-climate change right, and they want to make sure they are being heard. From the outside it appears they desire is to gum up the works and cause headaches for Democrats and Republicans alike. If you were to ask them, they'd likely say they want a "return to the rules". They do not like the top-down approach of Boehner and the rest of the House leadership. They feel that, too often, they are told what to do, even if it requires skirting the rules or crafting special circumstances. The leadership argues that these measures are taken only after a consensus has been reached and they are attempting to expedite lawmaking but shortening the legislative procedures. 

 

Despite this ideological touting from the HFC, what is undeniable is that they are driven in the pursuit of their agenda. A description in Politico from last week reads “What is distinctive about the current crop of Congressional rebels is their willingness to use any lever they can find to cause trouble—debt-ceiling fights, funding fights, leadership succession struggles.” 

 

 

 

So now that you know who they are (sort of) and what they stand for (sort of) the next question is why do we care? We care because they are having a huge negative impact in the way that congress functions. Let’s look at the numbers. The Republicans presently have a majority of the house with 247 members. If you subtract the 40-odd members of the HFC who often vote as a block, you are left with 207 votes -- which is short of the 218 majority needed to pass legislation. This leaves both major parties without the requisite votes to accomplish literally anything held hostage by 40 conservative radicals. 

 

This is where this situation gets even worse. Traditionally someone like Speaker John Boehner would use incentives or threats to corral these wayward Congressmen into line. However he presently lacks both carrots and sticks. As Alan Greenblatt of Politico observes: “In the era of super PACs, junior members aren’t bound to party leaders for fundraising help. And the old inducements of earmarks aren’t in play, even assuming members of the shrink-government crowd could be tempted by new bridges or interchanges for their districts.”

 

 

Looking to the past to predict the future it would seem that we only have failed initiatives and Mexican standoffs to look forward to. As we approach the debt limit debate the prospects of avoiding a government shutdown are dim considering that those spearheading this insurgency are inherently in favor of abolishing government all together. In God We Trust. 

 

[Cartoon image: Sacremento Bee]